


Rey’s Baby

by TheKettleWitch



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dreams vs. Reality, F/M, Halloween, Horror, Mildly Dubious Consent, Occult, Pregnancy, Reylo - Freeform, Rosemary’s Baby, Witch Curses, Witchcraft, satanists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-02 08:10:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16301342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKettleWitch/pseuds/TheKettleWitch
Summary: A reylo Rosemary's Baby AU written for Halloween. In the summer of 1965, Rey and Ben Solo, AKA Kylo Ren, are newlyweds who move into The Supremacy, an apartment building with a grisly past. Kylo Ren's acting career starts to rise soon after but at what cost?





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I saw the movie version of Rosemary's Baby many years ago and it is one of my favourite horror films. In preparation for writing this story, I listened to an audiobook of the original novel by Ira Levin. It's available on YouTube if anyone fancies it. I highly recommend it as a Halloween (or any time of the year) treat. I have directly referenced the source material a few times in this 4-Part reylo AU.
> 
> Happy Halloween!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr @thekettlewitch

The Supremacy was a stupid name for an apartment building, Rey concluded. However, it was situated in a prestigious part of the city, close to Broadway, and it did have stunning views of Central Park. The apartments had fewer rooms than those offered by most modern buildings but they were all sterile concrete blocks in comparison. Rey wasn't particularly concerned about the size, having spent years in a cramped orphanage. From there, she had gone on to rent a small trailer with a fold-out bed and not much else. Live within your means had always been her motto, and The Supremacy looked to be way out of her and her husband's price range.

Ben had already assured her the terms were favourable and the rent more than reasonable. It just seemed too good to be true. Rey heard the building's management board were notoriously strict when it came to assessing potential new residents, and they were a newly married couple with a variable income. Ben explained to her that The Supremacy had many residents, both past and present, who made their living in the entertainment industry. The board was overseen by Aamon Snoke, the renowned playwright, who occupied a grand suite on the top floor. He had also benergy a mentor to her husband from the time he first came to New York. His career was on the rise, Ben argued, and their address should reflect that. He had been getting more offers of work and received generous residual checks from past TV and radio commercials, he just hadn't received his big break yet.

"We still have a couple of months left on our current lease," Rey reminded him as they approached the unusual three-sided Supremacy building with its high triangle gables and turrets. The exterior, on the approach, wasn't too dissimilar to the nearby Dakota. Except, where the Dakota was square the Supremacy was triangular with a triangle-shaped courtyard in the centre. Rey found the leering gargoyles somewhat off-putting. "Maybe we should just ask Watto for an extension and stay on there for a while — just until we've built up more of a nest egg."

"I'm not asking that creep for anything," Ben said. "He'll just use it as an excuse to try and put the rent up again. I should never have taken it in the first place. The doors and ceilings are way too low, I'm always banging my head."

"Poor baby," Rey teased grinning at him before pulling him in for a kiss.

She had to admit their current two-room apartment, which had been Ben's bachelor pad, wasn't exactly spacious — especially for the six-foot-three giant of a man she'd married. And not if they eventually wanted to turn their Solo duo into a trio, or even, a quartet. It did fall well within an affordable price range, though.

"Look, I know you're worried about the money but I have that big audition coming up. The part could have been written for me and I'm not going to lose out to Poe Dameron this time. Plus, I've got that Volkswagen car commercial and it's going to air on all the major networks," Ben argued. "I've been working damn near constantly since I came to New York. Changing agents is the best thing I ever did."

She frowned, hating the family rift it had caused, "Your Uncle Luke's was pretty cut up about you ditching him, he told me. I hope it has all been worthwhile."

His hand tensed in hers and she could see him struggling to keep a lid on his anger. "He never believed in me," Ben hissed. "He said I didn't have the right temperament for acting, but it was all an excuse." What his uncle had actually meant was he feared his nephew took after his father, Anakin Skywalker, a once-celebrated actor of the silent era, and would suffer the same fate. He noted his wife's look of concern but couldn't resist one last jab. "We are finally going up in the world. All Skywalker ever did was hold me back."

"But, he is family, and he did manage your dad's career pretty well," Rey reminded him.

Ben froze at the mention of his late father, Han Solo, the Hollywood stuntman turned actor. The death-defying feats he performed early in his career gained him a degree of noteriety and respect in Hollywood unmatched by his mostly undistinguished acting roles. "I'm glad I listened to my mentor and adopted a stage name," he said.

"You'll always be Ben Solo to me," Rey said as she recalled their first meeting. How unlikely it seemed at the time that they would ever become friends, let alone husband and wife.

She had met his family first, his father to be precise. Han Solo collected classic cars and he came looking for parts for a '52 Ford Falcon at the junkyard where she worked. He offered her a job after she saved him from being fleeced by the owner. Then she met Han's wife, Leia, and eventually, Leia's twin brother, Luke Skywalker. She heard all about Ben from his mother as they looked through the old family photograph albums together. When Rey found out Han was sick and might die, she took it upon herself to try and reunite the family.

She flew all the way across the country from Los Angeles to New York. When she found Ben Solo, he insisted his name was Kylo Ren, and he no longer had a family. Rey ended up giving him a piece of her mind and a slap on the face. The latter part of his dismissal made her the most furious. He didn't know how lucky he was, she would have given anything to have grown up with Han and Leia as her parents. Ben let her rage at him and then invited her in for a drink. A short time later, they ended up having passionate sex on a blanket in front of a roaring fire. Their connection had been immediate and intense in every way. As if they were meant to be.

A few months after their first meeting, Rey managed to persuade her-then-fiancé to accompany her to his father's bedside as Han lay dying. Years of hurt and bitter regrets could not be healed in one brief exchange. There had been a time when Ben idolised his father and wanted to be just like him. But he'd been a difficult child prone to emotional outbursts and Han hadn't known how to relate to his son. He feared the boy took after his maternal grandfather and not him. It poisoned their relationship to the point where Ben, as a young man, went to live temporarily with his Uncle Luke — until he discovered his uncle harboured similar fears about him. Ben didn't hate his father but he couldn't forgive him, either.

He had insisted on staying in a hotel while Rey stayed with Leia in the family home. She comforted his mother and kept her company and, at night, she slept in her fiancé's old childhood bedroom. After the funeral, at which Ben barely spoke more than a few words to his mother and uncle, they returned to New York. He had arranged for a special licence so they could get married right away, neither of them wanting to wait any longer to be husband and wife.

"I'm Kylo Ren now," Ben declared snapping her out of her reverie. "I'm almost thirty, for Christ's sake. If I'm gonna make it big, it's now or never."

Rey sighed, her husband could be such a hothead at times but he seldom raised his voice to her. He had once flown into a jealous rage when he discovered she regularly kept in contact with a friend from LA who also happened to be male. She explained Finn had been like a brother to her and he was happily married, but it made no difference. After smashing his way through most of their crockery, Ben begged her on his knees not to leave him. He could be so possessive at times, but as an orphan who had spent so long feeling unloved and unwanted, it secretly pleased her that he needed her so desperately.

In the six months since they got married, everything had been going pretty well. The topic of his family remained off limits, although Ben knew she kept in touch with his mother and uncle through letters and the occasional phone call. Rey still hoped to bring them all together again, one day. Like most newlyweds, they argued sometimes and made up a lot. Their arguments usually ended with bouts of steamy make-up sex on almost every surface of their small apartment. It would be nice to have more space, Rey mused, as long as they really could afford it.

* * *

Rey was glad to note The Supremacy wasn't too far from the subway. Ben occasionally rode a motorcycle but they didn't yet own a car. He liked the idea of being within walking distance of the theatres on Broadway. Almost everything else they needed could also be easily reached on foot.

The arched main entrance, which had originally been built in the 1890s to admit horse-drawn carriages, led into a courtyard with a large circular fountain at its centre.

Ben turned to her with a smile as they walked hand in hand towards the south lobby. "Let's just look around and see what we think, okay?" He murmured into her ear before planting a soft kiss on her cheek. "If you don't like the place, I promise I won't say another word about it."

Rey figured there was no harm in looking and she nodded in agreement.

"Oh, by the way, did I mention we would be living next door to Armitage Hux and his wife?" Ben casually inquired.

Rey glared at him, he hadn't mentioned their prospective new neighbours as she was sure he was aware, despite his innocent expression. On the mercifully few occasions she had encountered them at social events, she'd considered them to be a thoroughly unpleasant couple. Armitage Hux was a producer and director of musicals and plays, his wife Phasma was his assistant. Rey opened her mouth to chide her husband over what she presumed was a purposeful omission, when a smartly dressed man stepped out of the lobby doors to greet them. He had a military bearing and looked to be around the age of sixty.

"Good morning, I'm Edrison Peavey and you must be Mr and Mrs Ren," he said.

After shaking hands, they proceeded in the direction of the elevator making small talk as they waited for it to descend from the fourth floor. Rey always hated being referred to as Mrs Ren but it seemed simpler to go along with it. What mattered to her was the name on their marriage certificate. As long as everyone else knew Ben as Kylo Ren and addressed him accordingly, he seemed content enough for them to be Mr and Mrs Solo in private.

The oak-panelled elevator arrived with a ding manned by an eager-looking Latino youth. He pulled back the iron grill to let them enter with a cheery smile. Mr Peavey remarked that The Supremacy was popular with actors, knowing it was Ben's profession, and reeled off a list of names of former and current famous occupants.

"Jayne Mansfield kept an apartment here during the mid-fifties," he said as they reached the ninth floor.

After the hot, mid-July sunshine outside, it was considerably cooler inside. Rey shivered in her yellow sundress and leaned into her husband. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders to warm her. The hallway decor was old-fashioned and rather shabby in places with cracked cream paint and peeling beige paper on the walls. The brown carpet was threadbare and patched. Ben regarded it with a critical eye which Mr Peavey noticed and assured him the whole building was in the process of being revamped. The decorators would be arriving any day, he said. It didn't bother Rey, she had seen and lived in much worse places. As they proceeded along the hallway with its twists and turns, they passed a lot of doors until they reached the one at the end labelled 9E.

"The previous tenant, Mrs Kanata, died in the hospital only last week. She had been in a coma for months," Mr Peavey informed them. "The place hasn't been emptied out yet, I'm afraid. The executor of the will asked me to tell you that most of the furnishings are on sale for the asking - if you would like to make an offer on anything."

He unlocked the door and immediately, the scent of rosemary hit them. It was a pleasant surprise to Rey, she had been expecting it to have an old lady smell.

"This place and the one next door used to be a ten-room apartment. You have the original kitchen," Mr Peavey explained as he led them down the hall.

Rey gasped when she saw it, even in her wildest dreams she couldn't have imagined having so much space at her disposal. It was almost the size of their current two-rooms. Rows of dying and dead potted plants lined the windowsill and a big tub of sea salt had been left overturned on the counter, presumably by the previous occupant. The grains had spilt out onto the floor and they crunched beneath Rey's feet as she walked across the tiles.

The living room was also generously proportioned. The master and second bedrooms were on the small side but the master bathroom with its brass fittings and deep bathtub went a long way to compensate for it. Thanks to its high ceilings and large windows, the whole apartment had a light and airy feel. There were great views out onto Central Park and the surrounding area. The walls were decorated in gaudy colours thanks to the old widow who'd lived there before, but that could soon be remedied with some bright coloured paint.

Rey had been determined to hate it, more so when she heard who their neighbours would be, but she'd been warming to it ever since they stepped inside the courtyard.

As if reading her thoughts, Ben came up beside her took her hand in his and kissed it. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you about the Huxes. I don't want you to think you're being coerced into anything." He glanced around the master bedroom they were standing in. "It is perfect for a couple of newlyweds though, don't you think?"

Rey had to admit she'd fallen in love with the place but the cost still bothered her. "Do we need so many rooms when it's just the two of us? And did I hear mention of five hundred dollars for the security deposit? It's going to take a big chunk out of our savings."

Ben leaned down and kissed her slow and sweet on the lips. "I want you to have the best, and we can afford it," he insisted. "As for the extra space, we're gonna need it one day, aren't we?" He let his hand drift lower and rubbed gentle circles over her flat stomach.

"I thought you said we should wait a while before trying for a baby. You wanted to get your career on track first," Rey frowned not wanting to get her hopes up.

"If I get that big role I'm up for, I could have a Broadway hit on my hands," Ben argued. "I don't think we should let a place like this slip through our fingers. In six months or so we could be turning that second bedroom into a nursery, what do you say?"

Rey let her eyes wander over to the room in question, picturing it painted cream and yellow and filled with cute baby things. She would finally have a family of her own, just like she'd always dreamed. "If we really can afford it — then I say yes, let's go for it."

"Well okay then," Ben grinned.

Rey squealed with excited laughter as her husband picked her up in his strong arms and spun her around.

* * *

"Aside from the Huxes, who we didn't see, oh, and the elevator boy, I don't think there's one other person there under the age of sixty," Rey commented as she discussed their new apartment building with her husband and an old friend over dinner.

"I thought you liked spending your time in the company of old folks," Ben jested not only in relation to their age gap, as he was almost thirty to her youthful twenty. But also, to her friend and sort-of-surrogate grandfather, Lor San Tekka, a retired priest in his mid-seventies.

Rey had known him during the years she'd spent in a Catholic orphanage. Her parents left her there for safekeeping and hadn't returned — At least, that was the story she liked to tell herself and everyone else who asked. Father San Tekka had conducted mass, heard confession and led morning prayers, but it was the stories he told about his missionary years in far-flung parts of the world Rey loved hearing the most. The two of them had lost touch when she left the orphanage. She hadn't known he was living in New York until Luke Skywalker wrote to tell her. In a strange coincidence, Father San Tekka taught at the college he'd attended and had become somewhat of a mentor to Luke during that time.

She chuckled fondly as Lor, who insisted his priestly title be dispensed of now he was retired, went to fetch another bottle of red wine. He was an excellent cook and often invited them over to his place for dinner. His apartment resembled a library with shelves and bookcases piled high with his collections. Her husband regarded the old man as nothing more than an ancient bore, but he did his best to be civil and good-humoured for her sake. The wine helped.

"You'll have to give me the recipe for this lamb casserole," Rey shouted in the direction of the kitchen. "Ben is already on his second helping."

"The chewing helps keep me awake," her husband joked between mouthfuls.

"Don't be evil," Rey scolded giving his arm a playful slap.

"I don't know if you're aware of it," Lor began as he returned to the table and refilled their glasses, "but The Supremacy has rather a dark history. The original owner, Thaddeus Noakes, was an occultist. It is rumoured he performed black masses in his apartment and conducted wild orgies. The ceremonies he and his followers were said to engage in were designed to bring about Armageddon. Noakes boasted he'd conjured up the devil himself who told him of the forthcoming birth of the Antichrist. Two years after the building of The Supremacy was completed, Noakes was found hanging in one of the stairwells with numerous knife wounds on his body. It was classed as suicide but rumours persisted about the involvement of his coven members. Sheev Palpatine was rumoured to be among them, although several witnesses placed him in LA at the time."

Rey began to feel uneasy as her husband clenched his fists under the table.

"It sounds like a lot of hearsay and nonsense to me," Ben scowled.

"Your grandfather knew Sheev Palpatine, didn't he? " Lor inquired knowing full well the former-senator had been a mentor to and patron of Anakin Skywalker during his early acting career.

Ben bristled and Rey put her hand over his in an effort to keep his temper in check.

"It's all ancient history," he said irritated but remaining calm. "We should let the past die."

"The Supremacy is certainly no stranger to death," Lor proclaimed refusing to let the matter drop.

"It is an old building," Rey said determined to remain objective. "People are bound to have died there."

The retired-priest shook his head. "It has a much higher death rate among its occupants than buildings of comparable size and age."

Ben took a large swallow from his wine glass.

"The previous tenant of our apartment died," Rey admitted to her friend's dismay. "But the woman was in her eighties and she had been in a coma for months. She died in the hospital from natural causes."

"The Supremacy has had its share of unnatural deaths, too. More than its share, I'd say," Lor revealed as he explained he'd been to the library to look through old newspaper reports. "Around the turn of the century, Frank Carandini, an Italian immigrant, took an apartment on the third floor. He posed as a Count to lure women to his apartment before slitting their throats and drinking their blood. In the 1920s, there was Bill Bane, one of the building's janitors. He murdered four of the residents with an axe before he was caught and executed. And let's not forget about the Knight Sisters, two of The Supremacy's original tenants and seemingly respectable maiden aunts, who poisoned their victims and got their simple-minded nephew to dispose of the bodies. Their story served as the inspiration for the Brewster sisters in Arsenic And Old Lace."

Rey recalled seeing the Cary Grant movie on TV. "But all those things happened years ago," she protested watching with concern as her husband reached again for the wine bottle. "It's full of retired people and actors now."

Lor again shook his head. "As recently as the 1940s, a man living on the sixth floor murdered his wife and three children in the same apartment where a family of six had been found dead in a similar slaying ten years earlier."

"We're on the ninth floor," Ben quipped.

Undeterred, Lor continued cataloguing The Supremacy's gruesome history. "During renovation work in the late fifties, the remains of a newborn baby were found bricked up in the basement. The child was rumoured to have had multiple abnormalities, including two bony protrusions jutting from the top of its skull and the remnants of a vestigial tail."

"Oh, how grisly!" Rey cried. "I don't think I want to hear any more about it."

Ben put his arm around her. "Enough with the doom and gloom, old man," he warned. "We've already signed a two-year lease."

Lor wasn't at all contrite about trying to scare them but the news that they'd already committed to the place shook him. "I'd hoped I could talk you out of it," he frowned.

"It's a done deal," Ben said.

Rey could see her husband's patience was wearing thin. He kept his arm around her and pressed a soothing kiss to her cheek.

"The past is the past, sweetheart," he assured her. "We won't give it another thought."

Rey nodded, she wasn't going to let anything spoil their happiness. "Once we get settled in, you must come over for dinner," she said turning to Lor with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "You can bring some Holy Water and a crucifix with you if it makes you feel any better."

The retired priest wasn't amused. "I would have thought," he began, addressing Ben, "you would have thought twice about living in such a place. You may call yourself Kylo Ren now, but I'm sure you haven't forgotten your family history."

It was the final straw for her husband, he pounded the table with his fist and leapt to his feet. "How dare you?" he snarled. "My grandfather wasn't in his right mind when he did those _things_."

Rey did her best to diffuse the situation but the damage had been done. Ben stormed out declaring his intention never to set foot inside Lor's apartment again. After promising she'd stay in touch, Rey went after her husband and found him kicking dents into a trash can. She let him get it out of his system and then they walked hand in hand to the subway.

The story of his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, had passed into Hollywood legend. Told and retold by numerous biographers, supposed eyewitnesses, and anyone else who thought they could make money off of it. Anakin died before Ben was born and his parents never spoke about his maternal grandfather. In fact, he'd grown up believing his mother's adopted family were his only grandparents. It wasn't until years later, when a newspaper ran an exposé outing Leia Organa as Anakin Skywalker's biological daughter, that Ben found out the truth. His grandfather suffered a psychotic break at the height of his career as one of the first movie stars of the silent era. He went on a killing spree, purportedly after losing his mind due to the death during childbirth of his beloved wife, Padmé. Anakin later claimed to have been possessed by the devil.

* * *

On August the first, barely two weeks after viewing it, they had moved into their new apartment. It hadn't taken them long to pack up and clear out of their old place. Their landlord wasn't happy about letting them go with two months left on their lease, over his dead body, he'd said. But Mr Watto underwent a sudden change of heart after an actual brush with death. As he was walking to the corner store, an out-of-control car had mounted the pavement and it narrowly missed crushing him against a wall. Later that day, he'd come to them ashen-faced and sweating, informing them he wouldn't impose any penalties if they packed up and left right away.

Rey took charge of the decorating while her husband ran through his lines for various auditions and an upcoming beer commercial. She favoured bright, sunny colours whereas Ben preferred funereal shades. However, as he was preoccupied with work, he could only nod or shake his head at paint and carpet samples. The door to the hall closet had been jammed shut when they viewed the place but it had since been fixed and given a fresh coat of paint. There were three large wooden shelves which Rey covered with contact paper and hung lavender pouches to keep moths away from the linens, something she'd read about in a housekeeping magazine.

Mrs Kanata left behind some fine antique mahogany furniture and they'd purchased her double wardrobe, dresser and vanity set to remain in the master bedroom, an extendable table and four chairs for the dining area, and a highboy for the second bedroom. There had also been a surprisingly modern rug which they'd bought for next to nothing. It was bright red with black wavy lines on each side and deeper reds towards the centre. Ben told his wife it reminded him of a certain part of her anatomy. On their first night in the apartment, Rey had lain naked on the rug while her husband traced its pattern with his fingers and her corresponding flesh with his tongue.

The next morning, she took delivery of new sheets and a sunflower-patterned comforter for their king-sized bed. Ben had left early to shoot the beer commercial and she wanted to get the rest of their things unpacked before he returned. As Rey made a start on the linens, she heard the sound of voices through the wall in the master bedroom which separated their apartment from the one next door. She briefly wondered if she ought to go out and say hello to their neighbours. The Huxes hadn't been at home the day Mr Peavey showed her and Ben around or when they moved in. She supposed the theatre kept them busy.

Phasma was saying something about prophecies, moon cycles, and planetary alignments to which her husband mumbled a reply that Rey couldn't quite catch. She hadn't taken Mrs Hux for someone who would be interested in astrology. But then, she didn't really know her at all. As she smoothed the new sheets down on the bed, it occurred to her that if she could hear the Huxes through the wall, they could probably hear her and Ben too. Rey made a mental note to get her husband to help her reposition the double wardrobe when he returned from work.

Ben arrived home late in the evening to find her putting the finishing touches to the master bathroom. He leaned in to plant a kiss on her nose.

"You're doing a great job, sweetheart," he said glancing around at the shining brass fittings. "I'm sorry I haven't been much help, what with work and everything. Once I hit the big time, you'll never have to lift a finger again, I promise."

"It's all right, I don't mind, I like doing it myself." Rey led him by the hand into the living room to unveil a project she'd finished before lunch. "I got all your playbills framed so our guests will be able to see them when they drop by," she beamed with pride as he glanced around the room.

"You are amazing," Ben smiled planting a kiss on her cheek. "Let's hope we'll soon be adding The Awakening to the collection. I have a good feeling about that callback audition tomorrow."

As he'd predicted, the lead part in the Broadway play he'd been pursuing had come down to him and his rival, Poe Dameron. However, he remained confident he had the edge when it came to this particular role.

Rey reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him, noting he tasted faintly of beer and then grabbed him by the hand. "Let's go and test out our new bed sheets."

"The partition walls are thin," she explained as he grumbled about moving the wardrobe before they made love. "I thought it might help block out the noise."

"I'm gonna fuck you so hard, you'll scream loud enough for the whole building to hear," Ben promised with a wicked smirk.

Rey giggled as she pulled her dress over her head. "I'm sure I heard Phasma chanting earlier. I thought perhaps it was the radio but it sounded like her. Maybe they are Buddhists or something."

"Or something," Ben muttered to himself as he kicked off his pants and captured his wife in his arms.

* * *

Rey had asked her husband if he wanted her to accompany him to the theatre for his audition. He said it would just make him more nervous to have her there and so she decided to do the laundry to keep her occupied. The machines were kept in the basement. After Lor's grisly tales, especially the one about the remains of the baby that had been found bricked into the wall, Rey did feel a bit apprehensive about going down there. It was silly to be afraid, she chided herself as she picked up the basket full of Ben's shirts and set off in search of the laundry room.

The place was deserted and dimly lit thanks to a couple of burnt out light bulbs. She had hoped there might be someone down there with whom she could strike up a conversation. But no one came and so she filled up one of the machines and set it going. Grabbing her copy of Life magazine from the bottom of the basket, she took a seat on the bench and started flicking through the pages as a distraction from her creepy surroundings. Rey couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief when a young woman with long dark hair walked in carrying a large bag full of clothes.

"Hi," the woman smiled in greeting as she started to load up one of the machines. "You new here? I don't think I've seen you around before."

Rey was struck by the woman's beauty, she looked like a movie star. "We, that is, my husband and I, have just moved in on the ninth floor," she replied.

"Oh, you're Mrs Ren, married to the actor, right?" The young woman said seemingly knowing all about her and Ben. "My name is Bazine, Bazine Netal," she supplied. "We're neighbours, I've been staying at 9C with Mr and Mrs Hux."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rey." The two women shook hands.

"The Huxes have been real good to me, they took me in off the streets and into their home," Bazine explained. "I got mixed up in drugs and all kinds of crazy shit. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, some real terrible things. You might not believe it, but the Huxes literally saved my life. At first, I thought they wanted me for some kinky sex stuff, like a threesome or something, but it's not been like that at all."

Rey sat back in astonishment at her tale, she hadn't taken her neighbours for charitable types. What with their good deeds and the hippy chanting, it did seem she had seriously misjudged them. "That's great, it really is a wonderful thing they've done for you," she said. "I'm also really glad to know there are some other young people living here. I had started to wonder if we'd moved into a retirement home by mistake."

"There are a lot of old folks here," Bazine agreed, chuckling. "We will just have to liven the place up, that's all." She toyed with a silver filigree pendant hanging on a matching chain as she spoke.

"That's pretty," Rey said indicating towards her necklace.

"Mrs Hux gave it to me." Bazine held it up so she could take a closer look at the unusual spherical charm.

Rey blanched as a pungent odour hit her. "Is there something inside it?"

Bazine shook the pendant until a dark red substance poked out of the filigree. "It's called Talzin root, you get used to it. Mrs Hux said it's for good luck and protection."

"It'll ward people off, that's for sure," Rey said grimacing at the smell.

The pair of them dissolved into laughter. While the washing machines did their job, they chatted about movies they'd seen and TV shows they liked. When the clothes were ready for the drier, they agreed to meet up the following week to do their laundry together again.

Rey got back to her apartment glad to have made a new friend. She hoped to get along with the Huxes too, now she had a better understanding of them. Perhaps she could invite them all over to dinner with her and Ben one evening.

* * *

Ben arrived home in a good mood after his audition. In his estimation, it had gone well and he suggested they should go out for a celebratory dinner. The part wasn't officially his yet, but he felt sure it soon would be. He apologised for being so self-absorbed of late. Rey understood, he always got that way when preparing for a new role. She was glad to have his attention focused solely on her, if only for one night. As she sat at her vanity unit preparing for their date, she heard the Huxes through the wall. Phasma seemed to be upset about something.

" _I said he wouldn't go along with it, and I was right. Well, if he won't keep his end of the bargain, we won't keep ours."_

She couldn't hear Mr Hux's response. His voice was lower than his wife's as she'd been almost shouting.

After that, they must have moved into another room because Rey could no longer hear either of them.

Ben took her to a local Italian restaurant and they drank a lot of red wine. He started talking dirty over dessert so they asked for the check and headed back to The Supremacy. As they approached the building, they saw a small crowd gathered outside and the flashing red lights of a police car. One of the officers asked everyone to move back so that the ambulance could get through when it arrived.

'What happened?" Ben asked as another police officer came over to talk to them.

Rey caught a glimpse of what appeared to be someone lying on the ground.

"Looks like a suicide," the officer said. "A young woman jumped from a ninth floor window."

The crowd parted so the other police officer could go and drape a blanket over the body.

"Oh my god, it's Bazine!" Rey gasped as she saw her long dark hair matted with blood and the right side of her once pretty face split open on the sidewalk.

"Do you know her?" The officer inquired.

Rey could barely speak from the shock of it all. "No, not really, we met earlier today in the laundry room." Ben held her tightly to him rubbing her arms in a soothing way. "Her name was Bazine Netal and she'd been staying with our next door neighbours, Mr and Mrs Hux."

As she said their names, the couple in question came walking up the street behind them. Phasma Hux cut an impressive figure in her silver grey pantsuit, with her platinum blonde hair styled in a sleek pixie cut. She towered above her slim, ginger-haired husband, although he had to be at least six foot tall.

"Phasma, it's Bazine," Ben informed her as she peered over his shoulder to get a glimpse of the body.

"Oh, how awful," she cried.

Armitage Hux said nothing until the police officer addressed him. "She left a note," the officer explained handing over a crumpled sheet of paper.

He read it and shook his head. "She was a troubled soul," he sighed. "We did our best to help her but it looks as if we failed."

"Bazine told me how good you'd been to her. You mustn't blame yourselves," Rey said in an attempt to comfort them.

Phasma thanked her and Ben suggested to his wife that they should go inside. She had started shivering from the shock and they weren't wearing coats. In a daze, she almost missed the dark look that passed between her husband and the Huxes.

"Come on, sweetheart, let's go get you warmed up," Ben said leading her away from the others.

Rey had the sudden feeling of being watched and she glanced up, but none of the eyes she could see peering out of apartment windows were focused on her.

From a window on the top floor, Aamon Snoke looked down at her and smiled.


	2. Part 2

Rey got up and made breakfast as usual, although she felt as if she'd hardly slept a wink. As Ben had pointed out to her before they went to bed, she barely knew Bazine. He was right, but no matter how much she turned it over in her mind, she couldn't reconcile the smiling young woman she'd met, full of gratitude for being alive, with someone who would jump from a window to her death just a few hours later. It wasn't as if Rey hadn't witnessed despair at close quarters before. Some of the orphans she grew up with had turned to drink and drugs, ending up supporting themselves through crime and worse. Rey had been lucky to find work through her talent for fixing things and she managed to keep a positive outlook on life, but she wasn't blind to the suffering of others.

Ben had held her in his arms while she puzzled it out, and then they'd made love late into the night. When they finished, her husband fell asleep almost right away but Rey lay awake for hours. Every time she began to drift off, there would be a bang or chattering through the partition wall to rouse her again. Sleep must have claimed her eventually because she found herself in the orphanage being berated by a nun with the voice of Phasma Hux. _Curiosity killed the cat,_ she warned. The scene changed around her and she was suddenly outside The Supremacy, looking on helplessly as Bazine lay with her face split open on the sidewalk. The next thing she knew, the two of them were back in the basement laundry room, unwrapping a small bundle of baby bones.

The telephone began to ring pulling her out of her reverie. Ben beat her to it, eager to find out if he'd got the part he auditioned for.

"Son of a bitch," he cursed.

Rey felt her heart lurch, he had been so sure he had it in the bag. It was a lead role in a new play by a celebrated playwright and it could have done wonders for his career. He ended the call with his agent by slamming down the receiver before stomping into the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry," she said breaking off from whisking the pancake batter to give her husband a hug.

"Poe Fucking Dameron," Ben hissed through his teeth. "What kind of stupid name is that."

Rey bit her lip, pointing out it was the name he'd been born with and not a stage name like Kylo Ren would not be helpful. "Something else will turn up, something even better," she said in an attempt to cheer him up.

He sat seething at the table and not even a stack of pancakes dripping with his favourite maple syrup could raise a smile from him.

The breakfast things had still to be cleared away when a knock came at the door. A young man of nervous appearance stood waiting, and he introduced himself as Dopheld Mitaka, Mr Snoke's assistant. He said his employer would like to discuss a work opportunity with him - if he could spare the time. As Ben had lost out on the Broadway role and had nothing else in his diary for the week ahead, he agreed to accompany Mr Mitaka up to Mr Snoke's top floor residence.

Rey couldn't help being curious about the old man as she cleaned up the kitchen. The two of them had never met, but he had given Ben his first break when he came to New York and had been an occasional mentor to him. As she understood it, he had become something of a recluse after a car accident which left him badly scarred and hardly ever left his apartment. She heard Mr Snoke took great interest in all the new residents and there were vague promises of a dinner invitation once they'd settled into The Supremacy, but none had been forthcoming. Perhaps he would mention something to Ben about it while he was there.

Rey pondered the matter as she finished up the housework. There was a knock at the door and she wondered if her husband had forgotten to take his key. She opened it, surprised to see Lor San Tekka standing outside with a gift box in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other.

"Apologies for calling unannounced, but I'm going out of town for a while and I wanted to clear the air before I left," he explained.

Rey invited him in and set about making a pot of tea.

"There has been another death at your house of horrors, I hear," he said taking a seat at the table.

Rey had been trying not to dwell on it but his words brought it all back. "It was awful," she confessed before telling him everything that had happened the previous evening.

"I warned you about this place, there's something not right about it," Lor said now feeling vindicated in his unease about The Supremacy.

It was too late for her to have second thoughts about their new apartment now. She and Ben had made it their home. One day soon, they might make a baby there.

"I thought you came here to pour oil on troubled waters not stir things up again," Rey complained as she poured out the tea. "What happened with Bazine was sad but life goes on."

Lor frowned but he didn't say another word about The Supremacy, except to compliment what she'd done with the decor of the apartment. He stayed an hour and then had to leave for another engagement, sorry he hadn't had the chance to apologise to Ben and give him the whiskey he'd bought for him in person.

Rey opened the gift box to find a small wooden crucifix inside and she politely thanked him.

"Well, you did tell me to bring one when I came to visit you," Lor teased as he put on his coat.

Rey saw him to the door and wished him safe travels. He promised to call on his return and hoped they could resume their regular dinner engagements.

* * *

A couple of days later, Ben went out after breakfast to record a series of radio commercials. His agent had called the previous evening explaining the jobs were last minute because the actor they'd booked had dropped out due to a bad bout of laryngitis. The day before, Mr Snoke had wanted to talk to Ben about Darkness Rises, a play he was in the process of writing. Apparently, he had Kylo Ren in mind for the lead role. It seemed like things were finally starting to look up for her husband and Rey couldn't have been happier. Maybe he'd get offered a deal in Hollywood and they could move to LA where his family and her friends lived.

Ben still hadn't returned home when Rey arrived back at the apartment with a bag full of groceries. She had barely got started on putting them away when there was a knock at the door. Setting down the fish she'd bought for dinner on the counter, she went to answer it.

"I hope I'm not bothering you," Phasma Hux said her unruffled expression suggesting she didn't care if she was. "I just wanted to say thank you to you for your kind words the other night."

"It's no bother," Rey assured her. "You and your husband tried to do a good thing. Bazine told me how grateful she was that you'd taken her in."

"We thought she had come through the worst of it, but she suffered from such dreadful bouts of depression. If only we hadn't gone out that last night," Phasma lamented.

"You mustn't blame yourselves," Rey said and, in a rush of sympathy, invited her neighbour in for tea.

There was still something about the woman she found off-putting, but her kindness to Bazine made her determined to give Mrs Hux the benefit of the doubt.

"You've brightened this place up," Phasma observed as she cast a critical eye over the walls and furnishings. "You and your husband certainly have eclectic tastes."

Rey smiled and thanked her, unsure if it was a compliment. When it came to decorating, she didn't have a clue and had simply chosen her favourite colours. In lieu of a mother or sister, or even, a female friend to help guide her, she had turned to good housekeeping magazines and picked up catalogues to get some idea of the current trends. She found she preferred the antique furniture they'd bought and old things she'd found in thrift stores to Ben's avant-garde pieces. In the end, they'd compromised and decorated the living room to suit his tastes, the master bedroom to suit hers, and the rest of the apartment in a mix of old and new styles.

While Rey made the tea, Phasma told her Bazine had been cremated that morning and they planned to scatter her ashes in the park.

"I suppose we just have to carry on and put it all behind us," Phasma said taking a lump of sugar and dropping it into her cup with a plop. "Her note simply said she couldn't go on, but as you were one of the last people to see her alive, I wondered if she might have said anything to you. It seems like you had a long chat in the basement that day."

Rey thought back over her conversation with Bazine as she had done many times in the days since her death. To her mind, there had been no hint of the tragedy to come. "We talked a bit about movies because she'd heard about my husband being an actor. She said she liked Omar Sharif, and I mentioned the last movie I saw was The Greatest Story Ever Told. We didn't get into any serious topics, she was laughing and joking. She seemed happy."

Phasma nodded in acceptance and sipped at her tea.

Rey got up to put the fish she'd bought in the refrigerator, having forgotten about leaving it on the counter and not wanting it to spoil. She could feel the other woman watching her and tried not to let it bother her.

"If you have no other plans, why don't you and Kylo come over for dinner tonight with Armitage and me? I've got a piece of beef defrosting that is much too big for the two of us. Please say you'll come."

Phasma fixed her with an imploring look and she felt she couldn't say no.

"Well, I — I suppose we could," Rey fumbled for a reason to decline. "I'll have to check with B— Kylo when he gets home, though."

"Shall we say eight o'clock?" Phasma smiled.

"Sounds great," Rey said with fake enthusiasm. She hoped her husband would get them out of it, somehow.

* * *

Ben arrived home at six in a sullen mood which only got worse when his wife told him about their forthcoming dinner with the Huxes. He had seen Poe Dameron from afar on his way home from the recording studio and it had stirred up his resentment again. Rey assured him he would get offered something better any day now, but he had been set on that part. It was the type that got attention; a man paralysed from the waist down in a road accident while on home leave during the Second World War. Ben argued that even if the play itself didn't do well, it was still the kind of role that got actors noticed and could have led to bigger things.

Rey offered to call and cancel dinner with the Huxes. It would be best for all concerned if her husband stayed home and sulked in peace. She would give him a shoulder massage or maybe a blowjob to relax him. Her period was due and the cramps had already started or else she would have ridden him in his favourite black leather chair the way they both liked. However, when she got set to go and tell Phasma something had come up and they couldn't make it for dinner, Ben called her back in.

"It's six-thirty, Phasma has probably already made a start on dinner," he reasoned. "We should go and you can fake a headache or something so we don't get stuck there all night."

"I won't have to fake it," Rey muttered dreading an evening of awkwardness and stilted conversation. She couldn't rely on her husband to pick up the slack because he was antisocial at the best of times. Her cramps worsened and she went to the bathroom to get an aspirin slamming the medicine cabinet door shut with more force than was necessary. "I thought you hated the Huxes. You called him a tight-ass, ginger jerk and said she was such an ice queen, his dick must have frostbite."

Ben had followed her into the bathroom to take a shower. "I stand by it all," he grinned and then his expression turned contemplative. "But they're our neighbours now, and after what happened with Bazine…" he trailed off his gaze darkening.

Rey swallowed down her aspirin and heaved a weary sigh. If her husband could make the effort, she supposed she could too.

* * *

The Huxes apartment was all black, white, and chrome. The tiled entryway had the appearance of a polished chessboard stretching out before her. Rey immediately looked down at her shoes fearful of trampling in dirt, which was silly. She hadn't come from the storm dampened streets outside, but from her and Ben's apartment a few steps down the hall. Phasma Hux wore a long silver wrap dress, her blonde hair slicked back and her face resembling a painted porcelain mask, with grey eyeshadow and blood red lipstick. Rey felt rather plain in comparison, in her matronly navy blue velvet shift dress with its white lace collar and cuffs. She had never been confident about applying makeup and kept it minimal. Her husband told her she was beautiful without it.

Ben liked the Huxes' apartment, she could tell. Black was his favourite colour, and theirs too, by the look of things. Even the candles in their silver holders were black. Rey teetered on the edge of their white leather settee for fear she might scuff it, while Ben and Armitage Hux sat chatting comfortably in a pair of matching black leather Eames lounge chairs. Both were sharp in dark suits, her husband opting for a black shirt where Armitage Hux wore a crimson one. Their hostess had brought in a tray of Bloody Marys and Rey broke into a sweat as she reached for her glass, imagining it would slip from her hands and spoil the carpet. However, glancing down, she saw it was black, like almost everything else in the room, and so she relaxed a little and took a sip.

She had offered to give Phasma a hand in the kitchen but was politely rebuffed. Sit down, have a drink, and enjoy yourself, she'd been instructed. The first two felt like a modern form of torture in her current location making the third an impossibility. Ben and Armitage were discussing a production of Macbeth they'd both seen some years earlier. Rey had nothing to contribute, being largely unfamiliar with Shakespeare, and stayed silent. Her husband was so focused on arguing his point about the staging choices, he barely glanced in her direction. Armitage was the one to notice her discomfort and he attempted to include her in the conversation. She knew Ben wasn't ignoring her on purpose, he often got carried away when discussing subjects relating to his profession, but it stung all the same.

Rey wasn't totally ignorant when it came to the arts, but she hadn't had the benefit of the kind of education her husband received. She had made an effort to visit more museums and galleries since meeting Ben. He had been her guide and seemed to enjoy introducing her to the art that inspired him. She even started taking art classes. Ben saw the pencil sketches she'd done in some of her old journals and encouraged her to keep it up. However, as she watched her husband converse with someone who knew almost as much about the arts as he did, she began to feel inadequate. Rationally, she knew the onset of her period always brought such doubts, but she had to wonder why he'd ever married a philistine like her in the first place.

As the evening dragged on, Rey felt even more like she was on the outside looking in when Phasma joined the conversation. The topic had turned to religion, after the morning news announcement that the Pope was due to visit New York in the fall.

"He will come over here, lecture us on all on how we should be taking care of the poor and then go back to his gold-filled palace," Armitage said his eyes filled with contempt.

"Such hypocrisy," Phasma agreed.

Ben eyed his wife warily but she was in no mood to argue. Her childhood years in a Catholic orphanage had exposed her to the good and the bad side of the church. She had taken the good things she liked about the religion to heart and tried to live by its basic principles. The bad and outdated, she had left behind.

"I hope we're not offending you," Armitage said noting the silent exchange between husband and wife.

"No, not at all," Rey assured him. "I may have been mostly educated by nuns but I had no desire to be one."

She and Ben had indulged in sex before marriage and she didn't hold with the church's views on contraception. The Huxes were entitled to their opinion and they had a point about all the gold.

The roast beef was a little underdone for her taste but Rey wasn't one to waste food. Phasma didn't decline her help with the cleaning up and she was glad to have something useful to contribute, even if it was only washing the dishes. The Huxes kitchen was only half the size of theirs, she noted, but they had still found space for a small tabletop greenhouse next to the window. It was full of pungent smelling herbs. At first glance, Rey wouldn't have had either of her neighbours down as the green-fingered type. But then, they had surprised her before and would probably do so again.

To her relief, Ben paid her more attention when she returned to the living room. He must have noticed her fatigue because, after they'd finished their coffee, he made their excuses and escorted her home.

All Rey wanted to do was curl up in bed with a hot water bottle. Ben climbed in after her and held her snugly against his broad chest.

"I love you so much," he murmured into her ear. "You know that, right?"

She still had moments of doubt. Not because he'd given her cause to, but because she wasn't used to being loved. "Yes, I know," she mumbled. "I love you too."

"You're my whole world," Ben said brushing her cheek with his lips.

Rey closed her eyes, letting the feel of his strong arms around her and the sound of his heartbeat lull her to sleep.

* * *

The next evening, after dinner, she was astonished when Ben informed her he and Armitage Hux were going up to have drinks with Mr Snoke. He hadn't mentioned a word about it all day and it wasn't likely to have slipped his mind. Rey didn't mind him going out, the first couple of days of her period were always rough and better spent in solitude, but it was the concealment that upset her.

"I didn't think it was a big deal," Ben argued. "You know Snoke's got that play, Darkness Rises, in the pipeline. It needs some work and the ending isn't fixed yet, but he thinks it could be something truly special."

Rey nodded and reached for the big box of chocolates he'd bought her when he went out for his morning run. "Am I ever going to get invited up there? It's like he's the Phantom of the Opera or something."

Ben laughed, "The Phantom lived in an underground lair," he said.

"I know the story," she protested with a pout. "Go, if you're going."

Rey opened the book she'd been reading, Flight of The Falcon by Daphne Du Maurier, and pretended to be engrossed in it.

"You've got the better deal out of the two of us," Ben said growing testy. "Don't you think I'd rather be here with you? If I want to be more than the voice of the nation's favourite antacid medication, I need the right connections."

She knew what he'd said made sense, she still didn't like it. "I'll probably be asleep when you get home."

Her husband bent down to kiss her on the cheek before he left. "Goodnight, then."

As it turned out, Rey wasn't in bed when he got home. Phasma Hux had called on her unexpectedly, not long after Ben went up for his drinks with Armitage and Mr Snoke. The two of them didn't have much to talk about at first until they discovered they'd both been orphaned as children. After that, the conversation flowed much easier and the two women got to talking about personal matters.

"That is an awfully big box of chocolates," Phasma noted, declining one when offered, "has Kylo been a naughty boy?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Rey said slightly alarmed. "He bought them to cheer me up because it's my time of the month."

"Oh," Phasma exclaimed. "Pardon me for saying so, but Armitage and I wondered if you and Kylo were trying for a baby." She leaned closer in a conspiratorial fashion. "Sound travels in this place."

Rey blushed, she'd been right about the walls having ears. "We've talked about starting a family, but the timing isn't right yet," she confessed.

"No harm in practising, eh?" Phasma winked.

"What about you and Armitage?" Rey asked, she certainly hadn't heard those kinds of noises coming from their apartment.

Phasma wore a mask of resignation. "I can't have children," she said without a hint of self-pity.

Rey rushed to offer sympathy anyway, hoping she hadn't unwittingly given any offence. The other woman brushed off her concerns telling her not to worry about it. Armitage didn't mind, she said, they were happy enough as they were.

The conversation grew stilted again and Phasma made her excuses soon afterwards. As she got up to leave, she suddenly remembered something and opened up her handbag producing a small black jewellery box from inside it.

"I almost forgot, I'd like for you to have this," she said.

Rey wasn't expecting a gift. "Oh, that's very kind of you." She opened the box to reveal the necklace Bazine had around her neck when they'd met in the laundry room. The poor thing probably still had it on when she jumped out of the window to her death. She shuddered and snapped the lid closed. "Thank you, but I can't possibly accept it."

"Of course you can," Phasma said brooking no refusal. "Wear it for luck. The Talzin root can be a bit eye watering at first, but you'll soon get used to it."

Rey didn't want to be rude, she just wouldn't wear it unless she had to out of politeness. "It's very generous of you, thank you," she said.

Once her guest had gone, she took the box and put it in an old tin she kept in the drawer of her vanity unit. It wasn't only the smell of the Talzin root but the memory of it hanging around Bazine's neck that made Rey not want to keep it in sight. If it was supposed to be lucky, it wasn't working.

Ben seemed quiet and out of sorts when he got back from Mr Snoke's apartment. Insomnia, which used to plague him before their marriage, returned with a vengeance and Rey awoke in the night to find him sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You can put the light on if you want to read for a while, or we could talk about whatever is on your mind," she offered.

He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. "Go back to sleep, sweetheart, I'll be okay."

Rey suggested going to make them both some hot milk but he wouldn't hear of it. He told her to rest and kissed her again. She hoped something big would come through for him soon. It didn't matter to her if his career never hit the heights of Kirk Douglas or Spencer Tracy, she would love him just the same. But she knew it mattered to him, and for his sake, Rey wanted him to succeed.

* * *

Ben spent the next day hovering near to the phone. He helped with a few jobs that needed finishing around the apartment but he left his usual morning run. Rey put it down to tiredness from his sleepless night and tried not to worry. When he did the same on the following day, she couldn't help but be concerned. It wasn't healthy for him to be hanging around the apartment waiting for the telephone to ring. No matter what she suggested, such as a walk in the park or catching a movie, Ben couldn't be persuaded to go out. He sat in the living room reading or staring blankly at the television set, leaping up every time he thought he heard the sound of ringing.

Later that week, Rey decided to go to her drawing class. She had missed a few classes with the move into The Supremacy. But with Ben moping around the apartment, she decided a change of scenery would do her good. She had struck up a conversation with another student by the name of Jessika Pava on a few occasions and was glad to see her in the class when she arrived.

"I thought you'd dropped out," Jessika smiled.

"No, I just had a lot on. My husband and I moved into a new apartment," Rey explained.

"Neat," The other woman said.

The two of them chatted as they sketched and Jessika disclosed that she was getting a divorce. Rey lent a sympathetic ear as the young woman unburdened herself. She and her husband had got married out of high school and they'd done well to last as long as they did, Jessika explained. The marriage hadn't been working for a while and they'd both had affairs. She said it was a mistake to get married at eighteen before you know who you are as a person or what you want in life.

Rey sometimes wondered if she might have married too young. Ben was almost a decade older than her and she worried it might lead to them growing apart. Their love for each other seemed all-consuming at times, but he'd become distant since his insomnia returned. He didn't want to share his troubles with her or even seem to want her around.

When Rey got back to the apartment Ben was sitting in the living room. He looked up when she came in and gave her a sad sort of smile.

"I have news," he said.

"Good or bad?" she held her breath.

"It's good for us," Ben said holding his arms open for her to come and sit on his lap. "I got a call, Poe Dameron has had to drop out of The Awakening and the part is mine - if I want it."

"That is good, isn't it?" Rey wondered why he wasn't already celebrating.

"Dameron woke up blind this morning. He is in the hospital having all kinds of tests but the doctors don't know what's causing it," Ben explained to his wife's shock and dismay. "I wanted that part, I can't lie. It's just a hell of a way to get it."

Rey didn't know how to feel about it. She had longed for her husband to get his big break, but not like this. Be careful what you wish for, indeed.

Neither of them felt much like celebrating and so they went to bed. Sleep eluded them both that night.

* * *

Rey didn't see much of her husband for the next couple of weeks. He spent his days rehearsing at the theatre and his nights working on scenes. She thought about finding a job of her own. Fixing things had always been her forte, mostly cars or electrical goods. But she was self-taught and not many places would take a chance on hiring a woman to do what was still seen as a man's job. Unkar Plutt took her on because he thought he could pay her less than the going rate for a mechanic. Han Solo offered her a job because she was good at it. She barely knew anyone in New York.

When a washing machine in the laundry room stopped working, Rey fixed it before the maintenance man could even be summoned. A few of her neighbours heard about the incident and she pinned a card on the lobby notice board offering repairs at a small cost. After that, a steady stream of people knocked on the door with broken radios and all kinds of other electrical items. It kept her occupied between her usual housework chores. She was glad of the distraction with Ben so busy learning the play. It felt as if they had barely spoken more than a few words to each other since he took the part. Rey kept reminding herself that he always got this way when he was working on a new role, and he found some characters harder to shake off than others. All the same, she had never felt so alone.

She got home with the grocery shopping to find Ben waiting for her. The Awakening had hit some snags, he explained. One of the producers had pulled out and some of the scenes were being rewritten. Rehearsals were being pushed back until November, which was almost two months away. Rey expected her husband to be dispirited but he told her an offer of a pilot for a television detective show had come through to his agent and it sounded really promising. He had a read through of the script at the end of the week and filming was due to start two weeks after that. At last, things were going his way — and no one had gone blind this time.

Rey revelled in being the focus of Ben's attention once more. She told him how alone she'd been feeling. He held her hand with tears in his eyes and vowed she wasn't alone and he would never make her feel that way again. The read-through of the pilot went well and Ben celebrated by making love with his wife. He returned full of vigour and made a feast of her on the kitchen table before carrying her to bed. Rey wasn't complaining. She loved it when he worshipped her body and then fucked her so hard she could still feel him inside her the next day.

September came, Rey and Ben went for walks in the park as the trees began to take on their fall colours. The pilot for the detective show started filming and everything seemed to be going well. Ben had a good feeling about it. His co-star was an actor he'd worked with before in an off-Broadway play and the two men were able to slip easily into playing detective buddies. After the first week of filming was completed, her husband came home carrying a huge bunch of red roses. Rey put them in water and wondered what occasion had warranted them.

Ben wrapped his arms around her middle and kissed her cheek. "Let's make a baby," he said.

* * *

Rey stopped taking her birth control pills. Ben was busier than before working long hours to get the television pilot show done but things were different this time. When he got home he would smile at her and whisper _"soon"._ She would smile back feeling a warm glow inside her. Mrs Johnson from the fifth floor had brought her a blender to mend and she sat tinkering with it, picturing a baby in a bassinet keeping her company when Ben couldn't be there. The blender had a loose wire that needed reconnecting, that was all. Rey replaced the outer casing while wondering how many things were thrown away when they could be fixed with just a little tender loving care.

The pilot wrapped shooting as September ended and October began. Ben didn't have anything much in his diary until rehearsals of The Awakening resumed in November. The plan was to start trying in earnest for a baby after the weekend. Rey kept account of her periods and they had consulted the calendar to find out when she should be ovulating. It probably wouldn't happen right away, she reasoned. Some women got pregnant almost immediately after coming off the pill, and some even got pregnant while taking it because they missed one accidentally. She tried not to get her hopes up.

Monday soon came around and Rey was giddy with excitement. She and her husband had made love many times and in lots of different positions, but never before with the intention of making a baby. She wanted the night to be special and planned to make Ben's favourite meatloaf recipe for dinner. Her husband promised to bring a pie home for dessert. He had gone out to get a new picture portrait taken for his acting portfolio and to have lunch with his agent.

Rey was peeling carrots when the phone started ringing. It was Ben's mother. The two of them hadn't spoken since before she and her son had moved into The Supremacy. Rey had written to her with their new address and number but had received no reply.

"I'm sorry I haven't been in touch," Leia began, "but I've been staying with Amilyn Holdo, an old friend of mine, and I didn't get your letter until last week. I was going to write, but I got the strongest urge to call and check you and Ben were okay."

"We're both fine," Rey assured her mother-in-law. "Great, even."

"That's good," Leia said. "Han used to tease me about my sixth sense. He would joke about being so predictable." Her voice cracked with emotion at the memory.

Rey wondered if she should make mention of her and Ben's baby plans. Better to wait until there was something definite to tell, she decided. The two of them talked a while longer about Amilyn Holdo's Zen garden and the Pope's visit to New York before Rey had to excuse herself to continue with the dinner preparations. Leia promised to write or call again soon.

Ben returned home a couple of hours later and his wife was waiting for him wearing a floral slip dress over her sexist red lace underwear. She didn't mention his mother's phone call in case it soured the mood. He went to take a shower and returned with damp hair wearing a black shirt and matching slacks. Rey's dress was short and he got a glimpse of her panties when she bent to take the meatloaf from the oven.

"We aren't going to make it through dinner if you keep doing that," he warned with a wicked glint in his eye.

Both of them were so preoccupied with anticipation of the night's activities, they forgot his promise to bring home a pie for dessert. Ben remembered and cursed when he saw the pudding plates his wife had put out on the counter. Rey told him it didn't matter, they could have ice cream or skip the last course altogether. As they were finishing up the meatloaf, there was a knock at the door.

"Whoever it is, get rid of them," Rey pleaded as her husband went to answer it.

When she heard Phasma's voice, her stomach lurched fearing she would want to come in. She had seen the other woman a couple of times when going out of or coming into the building and they'd exchanged a few pleasantries, but there had been no more dinner invitations. Ben thanked her for something and Rey gave a sigh of relief as he said goodbye to her and locked the door.

"It looks like we have dessert after all," he said producing a plate from behind his back. "Phasma _baked_ some chocolate brownies." Her husband didn't usually have a sweet tooth but he swiped the one on the top of the pile of four and bit into it. "Not bad," he proclaimed.

Rey had been surprised yet again by her neighbour, she couldn't imagine Phasma in an apron baking brownies. Ben ate his one in no time and she followed suit, although she found hers had a strange taste undertaste. She declined to take another and, instead, finished off the generous measure of brandy her husband had poured her to steady her pre-baby making jitters. Added to the wine they'd had with the meatloaf, Rey felt her head start to swim. A wave of dizziness hit her as she carried the dirty plates to the sink and dropped them to soak in the soapy water.

"Ready, sweetheart?" Ben asked as he came up behind her and swept her up in his arms.

Rey held fast to him as he carried her into the bedroom burying her face in his soft raven hair. The yellow sunflowers on the comforter seemed to be swirling like pinwheels as he laid her down on it. His eyes were wild with lust as he tugged impatiently at her dress, pulling it roughly over her head. Her skin felt hot and sensitive to his every touch as he stripped her naked. Rey gazed up at her husband, her vision turning kaleidoscopic sending her into a spin.

"Make the carousel stop," she beseeched him.

Ben kissed her forehead and whispered soothing words into her ear. Rey whimpered, loving the sound of his voice and his lips, soft against her cheek. She began to feel as light as a feather floating on the breeze and she closed her eyes - drifting, slowly, drifting. Her husband traced patterns over her skin bringing her back to herself, his fingers circling her breasts and stroking her thighs as her arousal grew. Somewhere, there was the sound of distant chanting, as if a radio had been left on in another room. The smell of the Talzin root from her necklace hung heavy in the air. Phasma and Armitage Hux were talking through the wall again.

Rey opened her eyes to find the room lit with candles casting shadows that looked like naked people dancing. Ben was undressed and ready for her, harder and bigger than ever. She cried out as he drove into her, his broad chest slapping against her breasts as he hammered away. He felt bigger than ever, as if he might split her in two. His eyes almost yellow in the candlelight and his hold on her was bruising. In a moment of clarity, Rey almost begged him to stop but the pain soon turned to pleasure and an orgasm tore through her. Ben grunted above her, his breath hot on her face, as heat flooded her womb. Everything faded to black and she sank down, down into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do let me know your thoughts and if I need to add any tags etc. Thank you all for taking the time to read this reylo Halloween AU.


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not much response so far... I guess you’re all either silently hating it or silently loving it. Maybe it’s just not finding an audience for whatever reason - You can’t win ‘em all! 
> 
> Anyway, a big THANK YOU to everyone who is reading and enjoying this reylo Halloween fanfic. It’s meant to be harmless fun and I love Kylo/Ben too much to make him as odious as Guy Woodhouse in Rosemary’s Baby.
> 
> BTW, in the original story, Tannis Root is used in the silver filigree charm. I made it Talzin Root after Mother Talzin, mother of Darth Maul. There is also a reference to the Nightsisters in Part 1 with The Knight Sisters. There is also a homage of sorts to Sir Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) in part 1, although I’m not sure he’d be honoured to have a vampiric serial killer named after him!

Rey awoke to Ben gently nudging her shoulder.

"It's after nine," he said. "Mr Snoke called and asked if I'd go up and see him after breakfast and I know you don't like to sleep in on weekdays."

She shifted under the bedcovers, her breath hitching at the aching soreness between her thighs. Her arms and hips bore bruises where strong hands had grasped her. There were scratches too.

"I'm so sorry, I guess I got carried away last night," Ben glanced sheepishly at the marks he'd left on her body. "I must have had a jagged nail but I've clipped them now. You know I'd never hurt you on purpose, don't you, sweetheart?"

"My head is fuzzy," Rey complained her memory of the previous evening hazy. "It must have been all that wine and brandy."

"You were kind of out of it," Ben agreed. "I guess I was too."

Rey pulled the sheets up around her bare body, confused and upset about how the evening had gone. "We shouldn't have done it like that."

Ben's face creased with concern. "Sweetheart —" He reached for her but she shrank from his touch. "It was baby making night, we agreed," he argued, crestfallen.

"We didn't have to do it when we were both drunk," Rey said dismayed that what should have been a special occasion was now forever tainted. "We could have done it this morning or tonight."

"I thought it was what you wanted," Ben retorted his exasperation turning to anger. "You didn't seem unwilling at the time."

Under normal circumstances, he would have prepared her first with his mouth or fingers, but he'd plunged straight in and left her sore. It wasn't as if they'd never had rough sex before, she sometimes liked him to take her that way, but making a baby should have been a sacred experience. Rey remembered having an orgasm. It seemed Ben could always bring her to climax, no matter what state she was in. The circumstances hadn't been ideal, but done was done. She heaved out a sigh of resignation, lots of women were drunk when they got pregnant, she supposed.

"You had better get going or Mr Snoke will be wondering where you are," she said wanting to be alone for a while to get her head on straight.

"Tell me everything's okay," Ben begged, cupping her face in his hands. "I love you more than life itself."

Rey could see the sincerity and desperation in his eyes, but he made his living convincing people he felt things he didn't. As always, she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. She let him kiss her. "Everything is going to be fine," she said.

* * *

Everything wasn't fine. Ben had been hesitant to touch her since that night as if afraid he might unwittingly hurt her again. His eyes couldn't seem to meet hers without guilt. He got a call about the play he was due to start rehearsing for in a few weeks. The title of it had been changed from The Awakening to Hope Is Like The Sun. Ben didn't like it and began to wonder if taking the part had been a mistake. Rey found her sympathies lay more with Poe Dameron. The poor man still hadn't regained his sight and, but for that, the starring role should have been his.

Ben resigned himself to doing it, as no better offers came in, and he set about preparing more intensely than he'd done before. In the weeks that followed, he spent more time with Mr Snoke. He even sought out Armitage Hux for his opinions and advice. Rey found her old doubts creeping back in about why Ben had married her. Did he only want to be her teacher, showing her the world through his eyes and telling her what art was good and what was bad? Maybe he just wanted an adoring audience. When he asked for her opinion, his questions were more rhetorical than genuinely inquiring. _Tell me it's bad,_ he would say after he acted out a scene for her. Rey gave him praise and reassurance when warranted. But when she ventured suggestions for where she thought he could make changes, and it would be as if he hadn't heard her at all.

Mr Snoke told Ben to visit an acquaintance of his who had been confined to a wheelchair. As he would be playing a man paralysed from the waist down in Hope Is Like The Sun, he decided the method approach would be the best way to prepare for the role. Rey saw even less of her husband as the actual rehearsals drew nearer. He left the apartment after breakfast and often missed dinner. In the evenings, Ben would retire to bed early to run through lines or else he fell straight to sleep once his wife joined him. Since their supposed baby-making night, he hadn't so much as suggested making love or given her more than perfunctory kisses. When Leia called and said it would be nice if she could visit, Rey agreed without even running it past her husband.

As she predicted, Ben wasn't happy about the idea but her mind was made up to go to LA. He could dedicate himself fully to preparing for the play, she argued, as if he hadn't been doing that already. She wouldn't mind playing second fiddle to his career so much if he would let her in once in a while. If he didn't go running to Mr Snoke for validation when he doubted himself, instead of talking to her about it. Perhaps the novelty of being married had worn off for him and he missed the single life. A week or two apart might do them both good.

The possibility she might be pregnant didn't cross Rey's mind as she said goodbye to her husband at the airport and flew to the other side of the country. Leia took her to the family beach house. No one had been there since before Han got sick and there were tears as they packed his things away. Rey didn't want to talk about Ben. Still, she listened to his mother's stories about him and his father without protest. Leia was no fool, she probably suspected all wasn't as it should be in her son's marriage, but she didn't pry. The two of them watched old movies, ate ice cream and hotdogs, and took walks along the shore. After a week, Rey missed Ben so much it made her ill.

She never usually suffered from airsickness but she'd felt off-colour since leaving the beach house; the complementary salted peanuts hadn't agreed with her at all. The flight was long and she tried unsuccessfully to sleep. Rey couldn't stop thinking about how her insecurities had once again got the better of her - making her believe Ben didn't really love her - just as they'd made her believe her parents never loved her. He had been so happy when she called him to tell him she was coming home. _I miss you so, so much,_ he'd said, _I'm no good without you_. Her stomach lurched again, she couldn't wait to get off the plane and run into her husband's waiting arms.

Ben met her at the airport with flowers and fervent kisses. It looked as if he hadn't slept since she'd left with the size of the bags under his eyes. He said his life was empty when she wasn't with him and his success would all be for nothing without her. Rey could never stay mad at him for long. Ben loved her, she knew he did, and she loved him. In his embrace, she was home.

Her husband was the one to notice her period was overdue. He worried she looked pale and tired beyond the rigours of a long flight but he didn't have to look far for the probable cause. Rey hadn't given it a thought until Ben pointed out the dates on the calendar. It was the first of November and her period was over a week late, how had she not realised sooner? Rey had been so preoccupied with the state of her marriage, she hadn't been paying attention to what her body had been trying to tell her. The next morning, she found the number of an obstetrician and made an appointment.

* * *

Rey hadn't expected Dr Harter Kalonia to be a woman but, despite it being unusual, she wasn't deterred. After a brief examination, she was sent to a nurse to have blood drawn with a promise of a call the next day with the results. In the meantime, she tried to carry on as normal. It wasn't easy and Rey couldn't help checking for signs her body was changing. Her breasts did feel slightly tender if she prodded at them and her morning coffee had tasted strange, although it was their regular brand. She spent hours hovering near the telephone. When it finally rang, Rey snatched up the receiver almost afraid to breathe as the doctor gave her verdict.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Solo," Dr. Kalonia said.

"I'm pregnant?" Rey gasped.

"Without a doubt," the doctor confirmed. "You should begin taking prenatal vitamins and I'll see you again next month."

An appointment was made for the first week of December and a due date given for late June the following year. It didn't seem real and Rey had to sit down for a while, her hand coming to rest protectively over her still flat stomach. She hoped Ben would be happy, it was what they'd both said they wanted. He had had a difficult relationship with his own father, the two of them seeing only how they differed and not how much they were alike. Han tried to make amends at the end but it has been too little too late. It would be different for them and their baby, she knew it. Ben would be a wonderful father.

He arrived home later that afternoon from rehearsals and Rey met him at the door with a kiss. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach with a smile.

"Oh, sweetheart," he beamed, "that's fantastic."

Ben kissed her again and again, lifting her off the ground.

"Careful," she fretted still allowing herself to enjoy the sensation of being held in his strong arms.

"I want to shout it from the rooftops," he said bursting with pride. "Would you mind if I went out for a moment and told Mr Snoke, and maybe, The Huxes?"

Rey frowned, she hoped it would be their little secret for a while. "Isn't it bad luck to tell people so soon?"

"It's just — Mr Snoke is an old man, and he's helped me so much with my career. His health isn't great and I'd like him to hear our happy news — before it's too late." Ben gazed at her with pleading eyes.

Oh, all right," Rey relented not able to deny him anything when he gave her his puppy dog look.

She wasn't usually given to superstition, but then, she'd never been pregnant before. All sorts of things could go wrong — she could take a fall when the pavements iced over in winter or illness could strike. The factors within her power, such as the foods she ate and the pills she took, were one thing. But if bad luck should befall her, what could she do about that? Rey went to the bedroom and opened the drawer in her vanity where she'd put the silver filigree charm given to her by Phasma Hux. She held it up, surprised that the smell of the Talzin root inside it no longer seemed to bother her. The scent hadn't faded, it just wasn't bitter or repellent like it had been before. She slid the chain over her head; the previous owner might not have had much good luck, but a necklace could hardly be blamed for the death of a troubled woman. Silly as it might be, Rey held the charm in her hand and wished for a healthy baby.

Ben returned fifteen minutes later with the Huxes. Armitage carried in a bottle of Champagne, and an invitation from Mr Snoke to a celebratory dinner the following evening. The news about the baby had obviously been a tonic to him, just as Ben had hoped. Rey couldn't believe she was finally going to meet her husband's mysterious mentor.

* * *

The ride up to the twelfth floor was unexpectedly nerve wracking for Rey. Her stomach had been churning all afternoon. Ben told her to simply be herself and Mr Snoke would love her but — what if he didn't? It was important to her that he did for her husband's sake if nothing else. She knew how much Ben valued his opinion. Mr Snoke had been there to guide him and give him encouragement when he felt no one else believed in him. Her hands were sweaty as she smoothed down her crimson velvet dress before fussing with her hair and fidgeting with the charm around her neck.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart, as always," Ben assured her.

Mr Snoke's apartment was the only one in The Supremacy that hadn't been divided into two like the others. The living room was enormous, appearing all the larger for being sparsely furnished. The decor and furnishings were mostly black excepting the red drapes over the windows. In an oversized black leather armchair at the far end of the room, sat the man they had come to see. He wore a long gold robe over a white shirt. There was no telling what he had on his bottom half as the robe went down to his feet, which were covered in gold Turkish slippers.

Ben guided his wife into the room with his hand on her arm. He brought them to a halt a respectful distance from their host and Rey tried not to let her nerves show.

"Come closer, child," Mr Snoke beckoned.

She had prepared herself for his eccentric manner of dressing, his scars and decrepitude, but she hadn't expected his eyes to be such a piercing shade of blue. It was as if he could see into her very soul. Her husband hung back as she hesitantly stepped towards the old man.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Snoke, I've heard so much about you," Rey enthused.

His smile unnerved her further, he obviously didn't believe her. But then, she was no actor.

"I've been at Kylo for months to bring you to me, better late than never," he said making her feel guilty for keeping him waiting.

Rey wondered why her husband hadn't mentioned it. Ben wouldn't meet her eye when she glanced over at him but he didn't look happy.

The doorbell rang and Mr Snoke's assistant, who had been hovering in the kitchen, rushed to answer it. After the arrival of the Huxes, Mr Mitaka served them all pre-dinner cocktails but Rey opted for fruit juice. At their host's request, she had taken the seat on the settee which was closest to his armchair.

Mr Snoke leaned over to speak to her. "I hear you've already seen a doctor, but I would consider it a personal favour if you would go to Dr Moden Canady. He is one of the best, if not the best obstetrician in the city, and anyone who is anyone has their babies delivered by him."

Rey liked Dr Kanata but she didn't want to be impolite. "Oh, I don't —,"

When she hesitated to come up with a reasonable excuse, Mr Snoke leapt in. "Dr Canady is a good friend of mine and I'll be more than happy to cover the cost. It will be my gift to you both."

Rey looked to her husband who had barely said two words since they arrived. "That's very generous of you," she began hoping he would jump in and rebuff the offer but he didn't. "We couldn't possibly —,"

"Of course, you can," Mr Snoke insisted. "I won't take no for an answer."

He instructed his assistant to place a call to Dr Canady and, before Rey could object any further, an appointment had made for her to see him the next morning. She didn't feel she could refuse when Ben chimed in urging her to think of the money they'd be saving. She would be making an old man happy, Mr Snoke told her, joking they might consider naming the baby after him. All she could do was join her husband in thanking him for his kind benevolence.

Over dinner, Phasma Hux brought the discussion around to her low opinion of store bought vitamins. Her husband and Mr Snoke agreed it was best to take homemade health drinks. She explained the herbs in her kitchen were grown for that exact purpose and she offered to make Rey a daily nutritional mixture to take during her pregnancy. Ben saw the sense in it, arguing that fresh ingredients beat something that had been sat around on a pharmacy shelf for goodness knows how long. Yet again, Rey had to concede to their logic. She said she would check with the doctor first but it sounded like the best thing for the baby.

* * *

Dr. Canady was a mature man and he had the appearance of someone with great responsibility weighing on his shoulders. It reassured Rey as it spoke to the importance he put upon his work and the care he gave to his patients. After a thorough examination, he advised not to read any books about pregnancy or consult with anyone who'd given birth and imagined themselves an expert on it. Every pregnancy was different, he stressed. Her cravings might seem odd but she should indulge them. If she had questions or concerns, she was to call him and only him. Dr Canady suggested she should make her own vitamin drinks before she could even raise the issue. When she told him of Phasma Hux's offer, he heartily agreed it would be better than any pill he could prescribe for her. Rey left his office feeling reassured and looking forward to their weekly appointments. Every time she saw him, her baby would be growing little by little until the day he or she was ready to make their entrance into the world. She could hardly wait.

Rey didn't have any cravings, in fact, she barely had any appetite at all. Phasma called each morning at ten with a glass containing a sharp tasting, sludgy and green-coloured drink. She would take a deep breath and down it in one, hoping it stayed down. Pregnant women were supposed to bloom but Rey had never felt so drained. She nibbled on dry toast and managed small pieces of rare meat but almost everything else made her sick. Dr Canady assured her the feeling of nausea would soon pass but it didn't. By the time Thanksgiving came around, it was as bad as ever. The Huxes invited them to dinner and Rey was grateful to be spared the cooking. She had lost more than her appetite, her weight also dropped. For someone who'd known gnawing hunger in the past, it saddened her greatly to have to throw food away.

In addition to the sickness, Rey began experiencing pains worse than she ever got with her period. She had first feared a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy but Dr Canady assured her it was nothing serious. Her body was adjusting to accommodate the baby, he told her. Rey had gone out and bought a book on pregnancy against her doctor's advice. The fact her husband was tall and broad-shouldered had always been a turn on for her, but now she regarded him with an accusing eye. His loving concerns were met with her cold shoulder. Rey feared her baby would be big because of its father and that's why she was in such pain. There was no respite from it, day or night. Daily life became a blur and she only slept whenever exhaustion took her. Nightmares plagued her rest - she would dream of the baby clawing its way out of her stomach because she wasn't giving it what it needed. As a mother, she felt she'd already failed.

* * *

When December came around, Rey got a letter from Lor San Tekka. He had ended up staying longer with his friend in Europe than he originally planned, but he would be back in New York before Christmas. A week later, she got a call from him asking if he could come and see her. The rehearsals of Ben's play had been suspended again and pushed back until January. He had been busy doing reshoots of the detective show pilot he'd filmed a couple of months earlier. The network loved it, they just wanted a few changes, and the possibility of an additional twenty-two episodes being ordered had been mentioned. Rey told Ben about Lor's visit, but she knew her husband still hadn't forgiven him for the jibe about his grandfather. She was glad he would be otherwise engaged when her friend came calling.

"My God!" Lor exclaimed when he saw her.

Rey stood clutching at the door to keep her upright. The weight loss had left her frail and her eyes were sunken in shadows. "Do I look that bad?" she asked already knowing she did from her mirror reflection.

"What in God's name has happened to you?" Lor took her by the arm and led her to the nearest chair in the kitchen.

She looked away from him and sighed. "We haven't even told Ben's mother yet." Leia was still in mourning for her husband and, despite Dr Canada's assurances, she feared every day she would miscarry. "I'm pregnant."

Lor raised his brows in surprise. "I would offer my congratulations but you don't look very happy about it," he observed.

Rey met his concerned gaze with watery eyes. "I am, really," she insisted. "It just isn't going the way I expected."

"I can see that," Lor said frowning at how thin she'd become. "What do your husband and your doctor have to say about it?"

"Dr Canady says I should start feeling better any day now." Rey wanted to believe him but it just got worse. "Ben says I have the best doctor money can buy and if he is certain everything is fine, then it must be." She didn't mention how much she wanted to hit him when he said that.

"The best doctor money can buy?" Lor questioned. "Ben must be doing well."

"Oh, he isn't paying, Mr Snoke is footing the bill," Rey explained as her friend again appeared surprised. "He is a good friend of Dr Canady's and he's been a mentor to Ben since he came to New York. We go up and have dinner with him now and then. I think he's lonely, the poor soul. He hasn't got any family of his own."

Lor spied the charm around her neck and leaned in to get a better look at it, drawing back at the smell of the Talzin root.

"It's pretty, isn't it? Phasma Hux, from next door, gave it to me. She makes me a vitamin drink every day too, for the baby," Rey told him.

Her friend seemed perplexed when she identified the substance inside the charm as Talzin root, claiming he'd never heard of it. He had grown lots of herbs over the years, he said, and it didn't look like any of them. The two of them talked more about the Huxes and Lor took a particular interest in the black candles Phasma had loaned her and Ben during a recent power outage. He said he'd put in a request for a book at the library before departing on his travels and he might have more to tell her about the history of The Supremacy once he'd read it. What that had to do with what they'd been discussing, Rey didn't know. Before she could ask him and tell him she didn't really want to hear any more horror stories, her husband came home unexpectedly.

The day's filming had finished ahead of schedule, Ben explained as he removed his coat. Rey threw him a warning glance and hoped he would let bygones be bygones. Lor greeted him warmly and apologised for upsetting him the last time they'd met. Thankfully, her husband was inclined to be magnanimous. His maternal grandfather was somewhat of a sore spot for him, he confessed. The truth about Anakin Skywalker had been hidden from him but he'd heard his parents discussing their fears that their son might end up like his grandfather. He thought they meant Bail Organa, Leia's adopted father, a diplomat who'd been killed in a terrorist attack. When his parents called his biological grandfather a monster, all he could think was that's how they saw him too.

Lor didn't stay long after Ben came in. He offered his congratulations to them both regarding the baby and vague promises were made about getting together for dinner sometime after Christmas. The weather outside had turned wintery and Lor fumbled around in his coat pockets for his gloves. He pulled one out but couldn't find the other. Rey and Ben joined him in the search, checking the floor and the closet. It was nowhere to be found and Lor presumed it must have fallen out or been left behind someplace else. He bid them farewell and set off for the library to pick up his book.

Later that evening, the telephone rang and Rey answered it. Lor sounded anxious but as if he was trying to disguise it. He asked if they might meet the next morning as he needed to talk to her about a private matter. She pressed for details and he promised all would soon be revealed. Rey agreed to go to his apartment after breakfast. Ben wasn't too happy about her going across town on her own and he wanted her to postpone until they could all meet for dinner. She refused, if Lor had something he wanted to tell her, she would go.

* * *

The sound of chanting through the walls had kept Rey awake late into the night — that and the pain. Ben left early the next morning to resume filming urging her to stay home. Truth be told, she didn't much feel like going out, especially if Lor only wanted to regale her with more tales of terror. She almost called to cancel but she didn't. A nagging voice in her head kept telling her something was wrong. Maybe Lor had been given some bad news about his health, he wasn't getting any younger. Rey finished her dry toast and pulled on her coat.

It started to sleet as she got to the subway and she hurried down to the platform. The cold was biting and her teeth chattered behind her scarf. The feeling of dread began to increase as she neared Lor's apartment. On reaching the steps, the pain inside her sharpened and stole her breath away for a moment. Rey stopped in her tracks to gather her wits fearing she might lose what little she'd eaten as a wave of nausea hit her. After a few minutes, she recovered enough to continue up the steps. She pressed the buzzer to Lor's apartment and waited, but no reply came. Rey tried again and again until a woman she recognised as one of Lor's neighbours came to the door.

"I'm here to see Father San Tekka," she explained. "It seems he's not at home but we had an appointment. Did he leave any messages for Mrs Solo?"

The woman wore a grave expression. "I'm afraid Father San Tekka was rushed to the hospital first thing this morning. His cleaning lady found him unconscious on the kitchen floor."

Rey couldn't believe it, perhaps he had been sick after all. She thanked the woman and went to find a telephone. Lor had been taken to St. Joseph's hospital, his condition was serious but stable. He was in a coma with the cause so far unknown. The sister allowed her to see him for a few moments, although she wasn't his next of kin. He didn't have any family that she knew about. Lor was pale and still, Rey held his hand wondering what it was he'd wanted to tell her. It didn't look like she would ever find out now.

* * *

Rey couldn't summon any enthusiasm for the festive period, not when she felt so wretched and with Lor lingering in a coma. She discovered he had a niece who lived in Germany, but Rey seemed to be his only hospital visitor aside from the sisters. The doctors couldn't determine why Lor had gone into a coma or if he would ever recover. One of her neighbours, a widow in her late-sixties who'd once brought her a curling iron to mend, had been teaching her how to knit. Rey sat by Lor's bedside once a week and worked on a scarf she intended to gift him when he woke up.

She hadn't identified any pregnancy cravings with her appetite having waned so much and the pain still plaguing her. However, as she gazed longingly at the bloody steak the butcher was chopping up for her, she realised she did have a hunger — for raw meat. In the past, Rey had always preferred her steaks and roast beef well done, or at least cooked until all the red was gone. The last month or so, she'd been eating it with only the bare minimum of broiling. If she had thought it safe or acceptable, she would have picked it straight out of the butcher's bag and devoured it like an animal, letting the blood drip down her chin. At her regular weekly appointment with Dr Canady, Rey mentioned the craving, alarmed and embarrassed about it. _I've had women eating dirt and dish sponges,_ he'd told her completely unconcerned.

She stopped looking in mirrors, her gaunt features reminded her too much of another time and place when she'd been starving on the streets. Unable to face unnecessary Christmas shopping, she got Ben to agree they would give each other no gifts that year. He defied her, though, and bought a new television with a remote control to save her from having to get up to change the channel. When Rey protested about the gift, he argued it was for both of them so it didn't count.

Mr Snoke had invited them to Christmas dinner along with the Huxes and, although she would rather have stayed home with Ben, she made every effort to be sociable. The conversation turned to baby names, a topic she and her husband hadn't yet broached.

"I quite like Jane for a girl," Rey suggested when pressed as she looked to her husband to gauge his reaction.

Ben shrugged in a noncommittal way.

"And what if it's a boy?" Phasma questioned as Mr Snoke watched with his piercing blue eyes.

"I thought —," Rey wanted to say Han but decided against it. She would discuss the matter with Ben in private. "I saw a birth announcement for a baby named Troy and I thought that might go well with Solo."

Her husband shot her a disapproving glare while their other three companions appeared confused.

"Surely, you mean Ren?" Mr Snoke said his gaze narrowing. "I understood Kylo intended to make his name change permanent, and not just in a professional capacity."

It was news to her and Rey didn't like it one bit. Her husband gave her a wary glance as the others watched with interest. She didn't want to cause a scene despite her anger. "It's a matter for private discussion," she said with no intention of ever agreeing to such a change.

Mr Snoke smiled in his reptilian way as he glanced between husband and wife. "Han Solo got his name from a lackey at Empire Studios, didn't he?"

Ben nodded his scowl deepening. "The Solo part, anyway."

Rey didn't know that, although she had wondered why Leia kept the name Organa and didn't take her husband's when they married. But they had chosen to call their son Ben Solo and that counted for something in her estimation. Rey never knew her real last name, she couldn't remember when the nuns at the orphanage asked her for it. She had been given the moniker of Reilly after the police officer who'd found her. It didn't matter so much where a name came from, she mused, it was what it meant, and to her Solo meant family and home.

Once they got back to their apartment, Ben was unapologetic about it. "My father chose to change his name to Han Solo and I am choosing to be Kylo Ren. It's as simple as that."

Rey was tired and not in the mood to argue, but she couldn't let the matter slide. "If the baby is a boy, I want to call him Han."

"Absolutely not," Ben shook his head in disgust.

"I won't call you Kylo and I'm not changing my name to Rey Ren," she said as resolute and unwilling to negotiate as him.

Her husband glowered at her his teeth clenched in an attempt to stop himself from raising his voice to her. "You can keep calling me Ben in private," he conceded. "But you're my wife and most people call you Mrs Ren now, anyway."

Rey pursed her lips, she would give him a choice. "I will change my name to Ren if you agree to call our son Han."

He let out a growl of frustration at her offer and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. The subject wasn't raised again when he returned, but Rey had the suspicion it had been put on hold rather than forgotten.

* * *

The New Year celebrations at Mr Snoke's apartment had been a strange affair, Rey mused. Dr Canady and the Huxes were there, along with a select gathering of other Supremacy tenants. There had been no singing of Auld Lang Syne and Mr Snoke gave a toast that left her puzzled. However, as everyone else joined in with the cry of ' _To 1966 and The First Order'_ , she assumed it referred to some forthcoming event of which she was unaware. Rey wasn't surprised as life seemed to have been passing her by while she waited to bloom the way everyone kept promising her she would.

The following morning, Phasma brought her vitamin drink as usual and she lifted it to her lips in a practised motion, stopping short of drinking it.

"I'll have it later," Rey said setting the glass down on the counter.

It hadn't been making her any better, she felt as awful as ever. When she had inquired what was in it, Phasma had made a joke about it containing puppy dog's tails. But maybe she wanted sugar and spice and all things nice.

"I wouldn't let it stand for long, it will start to curdle," Phasma warned.

"I won't, I promise," Rey smiled. "I'm just feeling a bit sick and I don't want it to come back up again."

It would taste no better coming up than it did going down.

Phasma gave a hesitant nod and repeated her warning before heading off to meet Armitage at the theatre.

Rey picked up the glass and emptied the green sludgy contents into the sink, turning on the tap to wash all traces of it away. She would make her own drinks in future or get some pills.

* * *

Ben resumed rehearsals for Hope Is Like The Sun with little enthusiasm. The writer was considering changing the name of it again, this time to No One's Ever Really Gone. It had become an albatross around Ben's neck, especially as his detective show pilot had been picked up for a full season by the network. He had three months of the play to get through first - unless it folded early. It could still garner him critical acclaim, Mr Snoke had reminded him, and he clung to that notion working long hours to get the character right.

Rey continued as she had been in her listless state. She made her own vitamin drinks and continued eating her meat almost raw. Her craving hit a low point when she took a bite from the liver she'd left on a plate to defrost overnight, the blood oozing from it as she tore a chunk out with her teeth. Disgust immediately overtook her and she had rushed to the bin to vomit it back up. She couldn't go on as she was and considered calling Leia to ask for her advice. As she got up to go to the phone, a knock came at the door. Rey almost collapsed in shock to find her friend Finn and his wife Rose stood, smiling at her.

"Surprise!" Finn said his smile fading as he took in her haggard appearance. "What the hell? Are you sick, peanut?" he inquired using his old pet name for her.

His wife was similarly concerned and Rey invited them both to sit with her in the kitchen. Her relief at seeing her oldest friend had her giddy, he would understand her fears and he wouldn't just give her useless platitudes like everyone else.

"I'm pregnant," she confessed to her friends' astonishment.

"Oh, Rey, that's wonderful news," Rose paused at the other woman's sad expression. "—isn't it?"

Her tears began to fall. "I've been so afraid something is wrong," she began as Finn handed her the box of tissues she kept on the counter. "The doctor and everyone here keeps telling me there's no problem, and the pains I've been having will go away soon. But they're not going away and it's been weeks now. I don't know what to do."

"Oh, peanut," Finn said pulling her into a hug, "it sounds like you need a second opinion."

Rey felt better for their company and wished they could stay longer. The two of them were literally on a flying visit, briefly stopping in New York to see Rose's sister before heading off to Paris as part of their second wedding anniversary celebrations. Still, seeing them had been a welcome tonic to her and she was determined to make another appointment with Dr Kalonia as soon as possible.

Finn and Rose left for the airport well before Ben arrived home. When he did, he was full of complaints about the way the first dress rehearsal had gone. His mood didn't improve any when Rey told him about her unexpected visitors.

"You look worn out," he said with a frown of concern.

"I always look worn out these days," she huffed. "I'm going to call Dr Kalonia tomorrow. I liked her and I want to get a second opinion."

Ben balled his hands into fists and pounded the table. "This is the doing of your so-called friends, isn't it?"

Rey glowered at him, she would not back down on this.

"You've already got the best doctor money can buy," he argued. "Mr Snoke will be insulted if you go to some quack no one's ever heard of."

"Fuck, Mr Snoke," Rey snarled the pain rising to an unbearable level.

She sucked in a breath and froze in her seat.

"Sweetheart?" Ben rushed to her side as she sat motionless staring blankly ahead.

The shock of it rendered Rey silent. It had hurt like never before and then the pain was just — gone. The baby was dead and it was all her fault. Her body wasn't up to the task of nurturing it. The foetus inside her had somehow known she would be a terrible mother and had chosen to perish instead.

Ben grew frantic asking if he should call Dr Canady when a strange sensation struck her. Something was moving low in her stomach, a fluttering she'd never experienced before. It stopped and then started again. Rey pressed her hand over it, a wide smile of wonderment spreading across her face.

"The baby is kicking," she cried. "It's alive!"


	4. Part 4

Rey paused to wonder if she only felt so wonderful because things had been so awful for the last few months. Then, she decided it didn't matter. She was blooming, finally, after all the pain and sickness. A few weeks after she first felt the baby kick, she'd been transformed into a glowing example of impending motherhood. Her hair was glossy and her eyes bright, her husband told her she looked more beautiful than ever before. Rey tenderly patted her now-visible bump, grateful her appetite had returned full force. She really was eating for two now, and no longer craved raw meat. Salty foods still turned her stomach but she didn't mind that so much.

Her months of illness had led Rey to think ill of everyone around her, it seemed. She endeavoured to make up for it, starting with her neighbour. Phasma came as usual with the vitamin drink and a new addition of a small white cake. Rey had begun taking her drinks again once the pain stopped. She felt guilty for pouring them away and had briefly worried if the concoctions she'd mixed herself had made things worse. The cake tasted like marzipan and she gobbled it down with enthusiasm. Phasma had turned out to be an excellent baker, with the little cakes and the chocolate brownies she'd made months ago. Rey made a mental note to ask her for the recipes when she called again.

By her fifth month of pregnancy, she had really started to show. Dr Canady warned her not to overdo things and to make sure she got enough rest. He hadn't been at all condescending when the pain stopped as he'd insisted it would, and had treated her with tenderness and respect. Rey felt a pang of guilt about wanting to go back to Dr Kalonia when Dr Canady put his stethoscope to her stomach and broke into a warm smile upon hearing the baby's heartbeat for the first time. The special attention he'd given her marked him out as not just a competent doctor, but a caring one too.

As Ben rehearsed and prepared for his upcoming role, Rey had been getting ready for hers. The nursery was coming along and she'd been busy buying maternity clothes for herself and a layette set for the baby. She would hold up the tiny romper suits, her heart melting as she imagined her infant son or daughter filling them. The subject of names hadn't been broached again but Rey was now leaning towards Hope for a girl. She still wanted Han for a boy, but not if it made Ben unhappy. Their son would need a name at some point, and they couldn't put the discussion off forever.

* * *

The opening night of Ben's play 'No One's Ever Really Gone' came a couple of months after they'd celebrated their first wedding anniversary. Leia arrived in town for a short stay, mostly to fuss over her expectant daughter-in-law, but she did accompany Rey to see the play. The Huxes were also there for the opening night as was Mr Snoke's assistant, Dopheld Mitaka. It went as well as it could and the reviews were pretty much as expected. Kylo Ren received universal praise from the critics for his performance, while the play itself got mixed reactions. Most found it too long, too contrived, and with too many twists that left the audience behind. But it got Ben noticed, as he'd hoped it would, and that was the main thing.

Luke had accompanied his sister to New York. He kept clear of his nephew, knowing his presence wouldn't be welcome. Rey went with him to visit Lor, who was still barely clinging to life in his coma. She hadn't been to the hospital for weeks and she felt bad about it, but there had been no change in the retired priest's condition. The sisters tended to him and prayed hard for his recovery, although it seemed unlikely he would ever wake up. Rey had long abandoned the scarf she'd been knitting for him. The wool would make nice booties for the baby, so it wouldn't go to waste.

Leia took her daughter-in-law shopping on Fifth Avenue buying gifts for her and the baby. She had been over the moon to hear she was going to be a grandmother and promised to visit them often, even if Ben complained about it. He didn't say a word but Rey could tell he wasn't thrilled at the prospect. She had saved her son's christening gown and hoped they would use it when the time came. The subject of names resurfaced and Rey ventured Jane or Hope for a girl. Michael, if it was a boy. When Ben had gone to the theatre, she mentioned wanting to call their son, if they had one, Han. Leia got choked up with emotion and said her late husband would have been honoured. Rey thought it unlikely her husband would ever agree to it. Ben argued they shouldn't give the baby a name with the weight of his grandfather's legacy attached to it. But then, he'd immediately contradicted himself by suggesting Anakin as an option.

No One's Ever Really Gone folded after a month and Ben got offered a screen test at Universal plus another television pilot. His career was going from strength to strength. Everything seemed to be full of possibilities from the life around her to the life inside her. Spring came and Rey kept blooming. Her stomach grew bigger and rounder, and she could see the baby moving underneath her skin. It kicked hard and she would jokingly scold it. _Stop it, you little devil,_ she chuckled telling it she couldn't wait until it was born. Not long now, she thought with a sliver of anxiety. Dr Canady had given her exercises to do in preparation for a natural childbirth; she didn't want drugs unless absolutely necessary. The baby would be breastfed not bottle fed, her previously modest bosom having swollen in readiness. When May came around, Rey packed a small bag with everything she would need in the hospital and kept it by the door. All that was left to do was wait.

* * *

At the end of the first week in June, she got a call from St. Joseph's Hospital, Lor had passed away in his sleep. Sister Katharine called to tell her the news, the two had spoken on a couple of occasions during her visits to see Lor and she was a kindly woman. The funeral was to be the following week at the church where he'd worshipped since his retirement. According to Sister Katharine, Lor had briefly regained consciousness at the end and his last thoughts had been of Rey. She was touched to know that and she wept to have lost such a dear friend. It wasn't unexpected after his prolonged coma. But still, she would miss him.

Ben had started filming the first season of his detective show and so he couldn't accompany his wife to the funeral. Luke and Leia sent a wreath but were unable to fly over due to work commitments. There was a decent gathering of Lor's friends and former congregation. Rey recognised Mrs McCaffrey, the woman who had been his cleaning lady since he moved to the city. The older woman came over to her red-eyed and with a grave expression, a small package wrapped in brown paper in her hands.

"It's a sad occasion," Mrs McCaffrey said. "He was such a lovely man."

Rey agreed, lamenting his loss as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

"Well, they do say 'one in, one out'," the older woman said indicating towards her prominent bump.

She rubbed her swollen belly, feeling sad Lor would never get to meet her child.

"This is for you," Mrs McCaffrey said holding out the package to her. "Lor was conscious for a few minutes before the end and he was adamant you should have this book. I've spoken with the library and they said you can return it when you're ready."

Rey recalled Sister Katharine mentioning Lor had woken up for a few moments but she hadn't mentioned anything about a book. She thanked Mrs McCaffrey and went to hail a cab to take her back to The Supremacy. Apparently, Lor's last words had been _'The name is an anagram,'_ but they didn't make any sense to her. He had wanted to tell her something before he'd fallen into the coma and she wondered if the book held the key to it. Rey toyed with the edge of the wrapping paper as she sat in the back of the cab but decided to wait until she got home to give it her full attention.

Phasma was coming out of the building as she went in. The two talked briefly about the funeral and then Rey excused herself, eager to find out more about the book. Phasma offered to postpone the shopping trip to sit with her until Ben returned from work, but she politely declined. Once she got inside her apartment, she tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a black leather bound book with 'All For Satan by B.B. Yates' written in faded gold lettering on the front cover.

Rey flicked through the pages in bewilderment — it was a book about black magic and noted practitioners of it. Why would Lor be so insistent she be given such a thing? _The name is an anagram,_ he'd said. So, taking the Scrabble set from its place under the coffee table, she picked out the letter tiles which spelt the book's title and jumbled them up to try and form other words. All For Satan became Or A Last Flan, A No Fall Star, Fan Or A Stall, and so on. All nonsensical and providing no insight into what Lor might have been trying to tell her. Rey tried it with the author's name and the author and title together, but nothing illuminating emerged.

She picked up the book again and turned to the middle section of glossy pages filled with old black and white photographs. The third one showed a severe-looking Victorian-era gentleman stood next to a young boy in his teenage years. The boy had piercing eyes and she felt she had seen them somewhere before. Underneath the picture, it read 'Thaddeus Noakes and son, Noam.' Had this been what Lor wanted her to see? Rey hoped his horror stories about The Supremacy were over, but it appeared he'd managed to leave her with one last scare. She turned to the chapter dedicated to Thaddeus Noakes and began reading it. The more she looked at the name of his son, the more it bothered her. She arranged the letters and gasped as the answer jumped out at her — Noam Noakes was Aamon Snoke.

Rey knew she had seen those eyes before. The photograph, being black and white, hadn't shown their blue colour, but the intensity was unmistakable. His father, Thaddeus, had died at The Supremacy, possibly murdered by members of his own coven. She read on about candlelit Black Masses and Sabbats, recoiling in horror at the mention of infant sacrifices. The blood and flesh of newly born babies were of particular value to those who practised Black Magic and worshipped Satan. This was what Lor wanted to warn her about, she was sure of it. The book said there were active covens all over Europe and North America. She cradled her belly ready to fight anyone who would dare to threaten her baby.

"Don't you worry, little one," Rey cooed over her bump. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

She read the chapter on Spells and Witchcraft, a shiver going through her at the mention of Talzin Root or Devil's Eye, as the fungi was otherwise known. There were descriptions of other ingredients used in spell casting and stories about supposed witches from centuries ago. The account of the 1590 North Berwick witch trials caught her attention. A Scottish coven had supposedly plotted to kill King James I by conjuring up terrible storms when he'd sailed back to Scotland from Copenhagen with his new bride, Queen Anne. One of the accused, a woman named Agnes Sampson, had confessed, under pain of torture, to being involved in the plot. She spoke of bleeding a toad of its venom and keeping it until she could procure a soiled bed sheet belonging to the king to "bewitch him to death". It seemed obtaining personal items belonging to the object of the curse was essential to its success.

Rey paused to eat a chicken salad sandwich, her appetite mercifully not affected by the tales of animal sacrifices and bloodletting. She had bolted as well as locked the apartment door and put the chain on. A short time later, she heard rattling and cursing outside when Ben arrived home.

"What's going on?" he inquired concerned as his wife put the bolt and chain back on.

She had checked over his shoulder for any sign of the Huxes, her fears about who might be members of a coven increasing. There were Phasma's herbs and black candles to consider. The interest of elderly neighbours, who'd repeated old wives' tales to her about how carrying low meant a boy as did growing extra hair, didn't seem so harmless now. Something occurred to her that she hadn't yet considered, or rather, hadn't wanted to consider. Did Ben already know the truth about the man he regarded as his mentor?

"Does the name Noam Noakes mean anything to you?" Rey asked fearing his reply.

"What is all this?" he scowled attempting to get a better look at the book she had clutched to her bosom.

"Answer the question," she demanded, needing to know he was as in the dark about it all as she had been.

Ben threw his hands up in exasperation. "Noakes? As in, the guy Lor said died here back in the 1890s or something?"

"That's the one," Rey affirmed. "Do you know who his son Noam is?"

"What is this — Twenty Questions? Do I get a prize if I guess correctly?" Ben went past her into the living room and sank into his armchair.

She could see her husband was tired after a long day at work but she wouldn't let the matter drop. "Noam Noakes — it's staring you right in the face," she insisted before spelling it out to him. "He's Aamon Snoke."

A flicker of understanding passed over Ben's face before he shrugged it off. "So what if he is? Sons aren't their fathers, you know."

"You knew and you didn't tell me?" Rey was more upset and disappointed than angry.

Ben reached for her but she pulled away from him. "Mr Snoke told me once in complete confidence. It's not as if he's proud of it or anything."

"Devil worshippers sacrifice babies, did you know that?" Rey sobbed. "Lor left this book for me and there are all kinds of things in it about Satanism and witchcraft."

"I might have known that crazy old man would still be filling your head with nonsense from beyond the grave," Ben raged eyeing the book with fury. "Are you saying you think we're surrounded by witches plotting against us?"

"Well, I —," When her husband said it out loud like that, it did sound ridiculous. But why couldn't it be true? People believed all kinds of things in the name of religion, and Satanism owed as much to paganism as Christianity did. Still, Rey began to waver in her conviction that she and her unborn child were being targeted by a coven.

"You've got yourself all worked up and it isn't good for you or the baby," Ben said and he held out his hand to her again. "Give me the book — please. I don't want you upsetting yourself anymore with it."

Rey looked at him contemplating her next move. She hesitantly held the book out in her hands but didn't relinquish her grip on it. "I don't want to see Mr Snoke ever again, and I don't want you to see him, either. Lor was right, we never should have come to this place. Promise me you'll have no more to do with him-him or the Huxes."

"The Huxes are in on it too? I must have missed the black cat and broomsticks when we went over for dinner," Ben mocked. "Watch out when Phasma wrinkles her nose or you might get turned into a toad."

Rey puffed out a sigh, his sarcasm wasn't helping. "Belief can be a powerful thing, whether it's real or not." She wasn't only talking about witchcraft now.

Her husband seemed to understand and his gaze softened. "Daughters aren't their mothers or fathers, either," he said. "I know you're afraid, I feel it too. Your parents chose the demon drink over you, and my mom and dad were so scared I'd grow up to be a monster, they pushed me away rather than face it. All this devil and witches business is just a manifestation of your fears for the future getting the better of you."

She began to protest at his explanation but some of what he'd said made sense. Hadn't she spent years lying to herself about her parents rather than face the bitter truth? The nuns in the orphanage told her her mother and father drank themselves to death and were never coming back for her, but she'd refused to accept it. Yes, people could make themselves believe all kinds of crazy things if their will was strong enough. Maybe her determination to be a good mother was making her overreact and see dangers where there were none. But if she could delude herself that her dead parents hadn't abandoned her on the streets and would return for her one day, other people could certainly convince themselves demons and witchcraft were real.

"I don't feel safe," Rey admitted tears pooling in her eyes.

Her husband wrapped his arms around her and she didn't fight him. "I would kill anyone who ever tried to hurt you," he vowed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I promise you, no one will harm you. You are safe — both of you."

She let Ben take the book. He promised he would return it to the library first thing and she wasn't to give it another thought.

* * *

Rey couldn't stop thinking about what she had read. When she got up the next day, she found a note from her husband staying he'd gone out early to return the book and he would try to get off-set early so they could have dinner together. Rey thought about going to the library to read All For Satan in greater depth. She had a need to convince herself it was all nonsense. Instead, she sought out an old bookstore in the neighbourhood which she'd passed many times with the intention of someday going in. The owner, an elderly man known simply as Yoda, looked in vain for a copy of All For Satan but he did find a few other titles on the same subject.

As Rey skimmed over them, it seemed to her most of the occultists, such as Madame Blavatsky and Aleister Crowley, gained a level of success and notoriety from their involvement in the occult that otherwise might not have come their way. The degree of theatricality involved marked them out as people who craved attention by whatever means necessary. There was undoubtedly a great degree of conviction among some of the practitioners of magic but belief didn't make any of it true. Many people, predominantly women, identified as witches in centuries gone by were no doubt innocent victims of superstition and religious fervour. The old crones of folklore were likely practitioners of ancient herbal remedies still used by some cultures in their traditional medicines and passed down as old wives' tales among the supposedly more enlightened.

One book caught her eye for its mention of Sheev Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker. The rumours of the involvement of both in a cult called The Dark Lords of The Sith had been the subject of much speculation. Rey had no previous reason to doubt Ben's grandfather suffered from mental illness and that his various acts of murder and attempted murder happened as a result of it. However, as she read about the alleged rituals The Dark Lords of The Sith engaged in, she couldn't help wondering if there was more to it. Anakin Skywalker had reputedly been anointed by the devil (working through Sheev Palpatine) and had arisen as the demonic Darth Vader. Had something similar happened between Snoke and Ben when her husband took the name, Kylo Ren? No, it couldn't be true. The book spoke of The Dark Lords of The Sith having yellow eyes when they channeled the devil. Hadn't she seen eyes like that somewhere? Try as she might, the memory eluded her. The matter of prime concern to Rey was her pregnancy, and the book said Palpatine performed a ritual which drained the life from Anakin's wife Padmé after she birthed their twins. Over twenty years later, Anakin had killed Palpatine (who, by that time, was a corrupt senator in league with the mob) to save his son's life. That much at least was true, Luke had told her so himself.

Rey thanked Yoda and left the bookstore with only a cookery book. Confusing mental illness with signs of demonic possession is what led to innocent men, women, and children being tortured and burned or hanged as witches in years gone by. She wouldn't go down that road. In the early June sunshine, amidst the hustle and bustle of a modern city, it seemed all the more ridiculous to imagine herself surrounded by people who used the energy generated by sex orgies to strengthen magic spells and sacrificed unbaptised babies to the devil.

* * *

Sleep didn't come easily to Rey in the last week of her pregnancy. Her back ached from carrying the extra weight of the baby and she couldn't rest on her sides because of the size of her bump. _It's only a few more days,_ she told herself, not wanting to wish her life away but hoping the baby would hurry up and be born. The summer heat was upon them already and Rey had the air conditioners going at full power. Ben brought her ice cream when he came in from work and rubbed her sore back. She did her best to set her fears aside but still refused dinner with Mr Snoke.

During her last appointment with Dr Canady, Rey had complained to him that Phasma's vitamin drinks were giving her heartburn. She had begged to be given pills for the remainder of her pregnancy. To her surprise, he hadn't put up any argument against it and even said she could tell Phasma the pills were his idea to save any awkwardness. It gave her some peace of mind to be able to refuse her neighbour's offerings. As much as Rey tried to banish her concern about witches, she couldn't entirely rid herself of suspicion. She also dispensed with the silver charm and its Talzin Root as a precaution. When asked, Rey said the fastening must have come loose and she'd only noticed its absence when she came to take it off before bed. In reality, she'd thrown it down a storm drain. The door was kept locked and chained when Ben was out. Rey had already fixed and returned all the small electrical appliances brought to her by her neighbours, letting it be known she wouldn't be taking in any more until after the baby was born. Hopefully once that happened, she could talk her husband into moving again. Maybe to California, if he got an offer from Universal.

Rey had been confining herself to the apartment, unhappy at staying in but unwilling to go out. However, she needed to pick up a few last minute items for the baby and it couldn't be put off any longer. She had experienced a couple of Braxton Hicks contractions and the baby had moved low inside her ready for delivery, but she still had a few days left before her due date. Rey put on a sleeveless maternity dress and sandals ready to brave the heat outside. She went to the drugstore for baby powder and lotion before going to pick up some blankets she'd ordered. The department store wasn't busy but it was stuffy and she needed to sit down for a few minutes.

"It's hotter than hell in here," a male voice complained.

Rey jumped in her seat unaware someone was sitting next to her until he'd spoken. As she turned her head, she saw with shock that it was Poe Dameron. He wore a pair of dark glasses and held a white cane in his hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," she said immediately regretting her choice of words. "I mean — I'm Rey, Kylo Ren's wife. I was so sorry to hear about what happened to you. I, um, take it there's been no improvement." She wished the ground would open and swallow her up, at least he couldn't see her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"Nope, still blind as a bat," Poe jested but there was a bitter edge to his words. He gave a heavy sigh and managed to summon up a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Rey. Your husband is doing well for himself, I hear. Maybe I should ask him for my lucky tie back, not that it ever brought me much luck."

A feeling of dread gripped her, Rey recalled reading in the occult books about how witches needed a personal item from their targets to cast spells and set curses. "Your lucky tie? What do you mean?"

"When we both had the callback audition for that crummy play, Kylo got coffee on his tie and I offered him mine. It was a gift from one of my past girlfriends and I'd never liked it," Poe explained. "I was only joking about wanting it back," he said at being met with silence. "Rey?"

"I'm still here," she confirmed feeling sorry she'd made him wonder if she'd left. "It's just — Ben, I mean, Kylo didn't tell me about the tie."

"I guess he thought I'd cursed it after he lost out on the part," Poe jested.

Rey began to go faint and she took a few deep breaths to steady herself. It was all so much worse than she'd ever suspected. Not only was Mr Snoke and, most likely, the Huxes, involved in black magic, but her husband had to be in on it too. She felt sick.

"Hey, are you alright?" Poe inquired as she grabbed her bag and got to her feet.

"Yes, I'm fine," Rey lied almost overbalancing with the weight of her baby bump. "I'm pregnant and due any day now. I should really be getting home."

"That's great news," Poe said with a warm smile. "Congratulations to you and your husband."

She thanked him and wished him well before hurrying out onto the street. It all became clear to her — Poe's blindness and Lor, poor Lor — people could be bewitched to death. He had been missing a glove the last time she saw him. Ben must have taken that too. Lor was going to tell her about Snoke but they'd got to him first and silenced him. He had fought them, though. He made sure she got that book and she found out about Noam Noakes and his witchcraft.

As her shock gave way to resignation, panic began to set in. Where could she go where she and the baby would be safe? Rey thought of Dr Canady, but as one of Mr Snoke's close personal friends, she couldn't be sure he wouldn't betray her confidence. Leia would help her, she was sure of that. But her mother-in-law lived almost three thousand miles away and needed to get on a plane to reach her. She had to find a safe place to wait for her arrival and the only other person she could think of who might help was Dr Kalonia. Rey almost got hit by a car in her haste to cross the street to get to the public phone booth. She searched frantically through the directory and found the number of the doctor's office. The receptionist told her Dr Kalonia was fully booked and had no appointments available but she wouldn't take no for an answer. Rey left the phone booth and hailed a cab determined to keep her baby from harm.

She experienced another contraction on her way to Dr Kalonia's office. It was stronger than any of the others she'd had and it took her breath away for a few seconds. The heat wasn't helping. She felt tired and afraid but she would protect little Han or Hope if it was the last thing she did. There were a couple of women already waiting to see Dr Kalonia and she grudgingly took a seat, hoping she could jump the queue when the next patient came out. Rey pleaded the urgency of her case but was told, if she wasn't in labour, she'd have to wait. She wondered if she should ask to use the phone to call Leia. It was probably best done privately, she decided and hung on, praying the other women would hurry up. When her turn came, she almost cried in relief. Dr Kalonia listened patiently as Rey explained what the trouble was and promised to do all she could to help. The doctor had the receptionist bring Rey a glass of water and got her to lie down on the couch. She told her to try and get some rest while she made some arrangements.

The next thing Rey knew, the door was opening and Dr Kalonia came back in.

"I must have fallen asleep, I was so tired," she said.

The doctor said nothing as Dr Canady and Ben followed her into the room.

"Sweetheart, you gave us all such a scare," her husband said his face a mask of concern as he stroked her hair.

Rey tried to get away from him but her stomach impeded her and Dr Canady blocked her escape.

"My goodness," he said. "I've had some expectant mothers go a little cuckoo but this is a new one on me. Rest is what you need."

Dr Canady and Ben took an arm each and led her out of the office, thanking Dr Kalonia for her help. She threw Rey an apologetic look and said she would have been derelict in her duty of care if she hadn't contacted her previous doctor. Everything was going to be fine, she assured her.

Rey didn't know what to do, she couldn't run away and Dr Canady threatened to give her an injection if she caused another scene. A cab was waiting for them and she sat in the back between the doctor and her husband.

"No one is going to hurt you, sweetheart, you have to believe me," Ben pleaded as he put his arm around her.

How could she trust a word he said? He was in on it, he had to be. His career had been going nowhere before she got pregnant and now he was turning down offers. The coven had done their part and now there was a price to be paid. She and her baby were going to have to pay it.

Rey thought about asking the cab driver for help but Dr. Canady had his syringe poised. She could scream once they got to The Supremacy and hope the police would come to investigate. Her husband and the doctor would probably be able to explain it all away, though. Who would believe that witches were after her baby? Rey kicked herself for not making calling Leia her first order of business. It might take her a day or two to get to New York but she wouldn't let anyone take her grandchild.

The Supremacy lobby was empty once they got inside. Ben pressed the button for the elevator and it arrived soon after. Rey saw the guy operating it was the Puerto Rican who didn't speak good English. Her hopes were fading fast when she looked down at the bags she was holding. She fumbled around in her purse taking hold of her door key and then she remembered the tub of Johnson's baby powder she'd bought. When the elevator came to a halt on the ninth floor and the doors opened, Rey let all her bags fall to the floor as she clutched her key in one hand and the powder in the other. The three men bent down to pick them up and she sidestepped them going into the hallway. She pulled the iron grill closed before they could get up and threw clouds of powder in their direction as she hit the elevator button. It started to descend and she ran as fast as she could towards her apartment. Rey almost buckled under the pain of another contraction but she gritted her teeth and got to her door. She was shaking so much, it took three attempts before she could unlock it and then secure it properly.

Ben and Dr Canady were hot on her heels, she thought she could hear the Huxes too. Rey went straight to the telephone doubling over as yet another contraction hit her. She managed to dial her mother-in-law's number begging her to pick up as it rang and rang. The call went through to the answering service, and all Rey could do was stress how urgent it was for Leia to call her back as soon as possible. She thought of other people she could contact; Finn and Rose had moved apartments and she didn't have their new number. Jessika Pava might help but she didn't have her address or anything. Red hot pain surged through her and she tensed. After it receded, she felt wetness running down her legs — her water had broken.

"Oh God, no," Rey gasped.

The next thing she knew, strong arms were supporting her as she sagged towards the floor.

"Hush, sweetheart," Ben murmured into her ear. "It's all going to be just fine, I promise."

"No, get away from me," Rey shrieked. "You're all witches."

Phasma helped Ben hold her while Dr Canady readied the syringe. "It will be over soon," the doctor said jabbing the needle into her arm.

"No," Rey whimpered her hand going to her stomach. "Don't hurt my baby."

"Get her to the bed, she's in labour," Dr Canady said.

As the outside world began to fade into the background, Rey could only apologise to her child. "I'm so sorry, my little one," she whimpered.

* * *

The first thing Rey became aware of was the pain and soreness between her legs. She opened her eyes and saw her husband watching over her appearing haggard as if he hadn't slept for days.

"Where's the baby?" she asked attempting to sit up and look for the bassinet.

Ben got up and helped her to get comfortable. "Phasma is watching over him while you get your strength back."

"It's a boy? Can I see him?" Rey tried to get up again and couldn't. "Please, don't let anyone hurt him."

Her husband tucked the bedcovers securely around her. "I promised I would kill anyone who tried to hurt you or the baby, and I meant it."

Rey was tired and weakened by the birth. Her eyes closed and she fell back to sleep in an instant. The next time she woke up, she again asked to see her son. Dr Canady came in and told her she needed to rest, jabbing her with another needle before she could protest. When she awoke, her breasts were sore, swollen and leaking milk.

"I should be nursing my baby," Rey argued as her husband stopped her getting out of bed.

"You haven't been yourself lately. You need to rest a while longer," Ben insisted sitting beside her to make sure she stayed put.

She burst into tears slapping him away as he attempted to comfort her. It wasn't her that had gone insane, it was him and his creepy friends. "If I'm crazy and you're not all witches, then bring me the baby. Let me see him and hold him. I want my son."

Ben heaved a heavy sigh and picked up a glass of water from the bedside cabinet. "You will see him soon, I promise." He held out the glass and a white pill for her to take.

"I don't believe your promises," Rey screeched. "I want my baby."

Her husband told her she wasn't well and he only wanted her to be her old self again. There were tears in his eyes as he called the doctor in.

Dr Canady burst into the bedroom brandishing his syringe. "You will be up and around in a day or two if you do as you're told," he said. "Take your pill and drink your water or you'll get dehydrated."

She needed to get her strength back and another injection wouldn't help with that goal. Rey took the pill and drank the water. Later, Mr Peavey's wife brought her a bowl of soup and a cup of tea. Ben came and went but there was always someone with her. She didn't see the Huxes. Phasma was supposed to be tending to her baby in her absence and she could only hope her precious boy was unhurt. Rey wasn't sure how long it had been since the birth. The pills made her hazy but she still felt sore and weak. She managed to fake taking the next three pills that were given to her and some of her strength returned. When Mrs Peavey left the room to get fresh tea, she crushed the pills up with two teaspoons she'd hidden and placed the powder on a tissue.

"I hate to be a bother but would you mind putting another spoonful of sugar in," Rey asked after taking a sip from her cup and grimacing.

Mrs Peavey smiled and took her cup back into the kitchen. She got the tissue and poured the crushed up pills into Mrs Peavey's tea, hoping there would be enough to knock her out. Her own tea was far too sweet when it was returned to her but she drank it enthusiastically, watching as the other woman drained her cup too. In the distance, Rey could hear a baby crying and her breasts grew so heavy they hurt. She held her breath waiting and watching as Mrs Peavey faltered in her knitting. The older woman's eyes soon drooped and she began to snore.

Rey slipped out of bed and, standing on wobbly legs, she gathered every ounce of her strength. Her little boy needed her and she wouldn't let those witches have him. She went first to the kitchen and took out the biggest and sharpest knife they had from the block. The front door was secured but it had been that way when Ben and Dr Canady got to her. Rey went to the closet, the one whose lock had likely been jammed by Mrs Kanata when they first viewed the apartment. It hadn't saved the old woman, she'd gone the same way as Lor. Rey had always wondered about the thin board at the back of the closet as it appeared to be part of the partition which separated their apartment from the one next door. It had wobbled when she'd tested it and a bit of force could probably work it loose.

The towels and linens looked to have been recently disturbed. A few were badly folded and the paintwork on the shelving had been scuffed. Rey swept the shelves clear and slid them out. She pushed at the board and it gave way, opening to reveal a dark passage. There was the distant noise of chattering voices and she clutched the knife in her hand following the sound. It brought her out in a closet next to the Huxes' master bedroom. The door to the living room was ajar and she could see Armitage passing around a tray of drinks to various guests. Mr Snoke wasn't there but she saw Dr Canady, Mr Peavey, a couple of elderly widows who'd knitted her baby booties, Phasma, and Ben, her loving husband, sat laughing and talking as if he didn't have a care in the world. Her heart broke all over again and she tightened her grip on the knife as she moved closer. Rey got to the door and froze, in the corner stood a black bassinet with a silver cross of St. Peter hanging down from the black lace covered hood. The baby inside started to fuss and she found herself moving closer.

Phasma caught sight of her first. "Rey put the knife down," she demanded.

"Get back or I'll cut your heart out, if you've got one," Rey hissed.

She held up the knife staring daggers around the room as she advanced on the bassinet.

"Sweetheart —," Ben began stopping when she jabbed the blade in his direction.

"You're not giving my son to Snoke, I'll kill you all first," Rey warned.

Armitage set the tray of drinks down and stepped closer to her holding his hands up in surrender. "Mr Snoke is dead," he told her. "He was cremated this morning."

She stopped and looked around — everyone was dressed in black, but she'd assumed it was a witch thing.

"I didn't tell you, sweetheart, because, well…" Ben gestured towards his wife, dressed as she was in a long blue nightgown and clutching a carving knife.

Rey began to feel faintly ridiculous. She didn't know what to make of any of it, her legs were shaking and she wanted so badly to fall down weeping. The baby let out a piercing cry. She couldn't stop yet, she hadn't got what she came for.

"He's hungry," Ben said.

Rey kept hold of the knife and closed the short distance between her and the bassinet. The baby was wailing in earnest as she parted the black lace and took a first look at her son. He had black hair like his father, a shock of it, he had his father's eyes too. She let the knife slip from her hand and it embedded itself in the Huxes' carpet.

Phasma came towards the bassinet with a bottle of milk in her hand but Ben waved her away.

"His mother is here now," he said in a commanding voice.

She retreated, somewhat reluctantly, but gave a bow of her head.

Rey looked at her husband and then at the baby. "Yes, little man, your momma is here," she smiled opening the buttons of her nightgown.

Ben rubbed her back in soothing circles and kissed her cheek. "I'd like to call him Michael Anakin Han Solo - if that's okay with you."

She considered it for a moment as she scooped the baby up and put him to her breast. He wrinkled his tiny nose, she supposed he'd got used to bottle teats, but he soon latched on to her. "Michael Anakin Han Solo," she agreed. "Mikey, for short."

Her husband gazed at them both with adoration.

Rey hummed little Mikey a lullaby, his eyes looked almost golden as he peered up at her. "Who's momma's beautiful boy?"

She felt silly for her earlier outburst but no one seemed to be holding it against her. Phasma had picked up the knife and taken it to the kitchen. Everyone else carried on with their drinks as if nothing had happened. Rey glanced around at them; Dr Canady with vol-u-vent crumbs on his tie, Armitage Hux making sure his guests were using coasters, and Mr Mitaka nervously sipping from a glass filled with soda water. Her suspicions seemed ludicrous in the face of such banality. _All_ _of them witches?_ she chuckled to herself. The baby gave her a gummy smile as if, he too, thought it ridiculous.

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Michael was top of the Most Popular Names for Boys list in 1966. I also like it for Rey and Ben’s baby because of the current pop culture references with Michael in The Good Place, and (I don’t watch it but I’ve heard about it) Michael Langdon in American Horror Story. 
> 
> I’ve leaned into the ambiguity more than Ira Levin did in Rosemary’s Baby. It could all be seen as ‘from a certain point of view’, if that’s how the reader wants to interpret it. Little Adrian/Andrew in the original story is clearly the son of the devil in the end. As for little Mikey...? I’ll leave that up to you to decide.
> 
> Thank you for reading this reylo Halloween AU. Please do leave a comment and/or kudos, if you’re so inclined.
> 
> Happy Halloween to you all!


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